Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali
Until the turn of the century, farmers in West Africa considered cotton to be the ‘white gold’ for their livelihoods. Large fluctuations in cotton prices have led farmers to innovate into other business including dairy. Yet the productivity of cows fed traditional diets is very poor, especially duri...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2015-01-01
|
| Series: | Animal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731115000178 |
| _version_ | 1819151119542124544 |
|---|---|
| author | N. de Ridder O.M. Sanogo M.C. Rufino H. van Keulen K.E. Giller |
| author_facet | N. de Ridder O.M. Sanogo M.C. Rufino H. van Keulen K.E. Giller |
| author_sort | N. de Ridder |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Until the turn of the century, farmers in West Africa considered cotton to be the ‘white gold’ for their livelihoods. Large fluctuations in cotton prices have led farmers to innovate into other business including dairy. Yet the productivity of cows fed traditional diets is very poor, especially during the long dry season. This study combines earlier published results of farmer participatory experiments with simulation modelling to evaluate the lifetime productivity of cows under varying feeding strategies and the resulting economic performance at farm level. We compared the profitability of cotton production to the innovation of dairy. The results show that milk production of the West African Méré breed could be expanded if cows are supplemented and kept stall-fed during the dry season. This option seems to be profitable for better-off farmers, but whether dairy will replace (some of) the role of cotton as the white gold for these smallholder farmers will depend on the cross price elasticity of cotton and milk. Farmers may (partly) replace cotton production for fodder production to produce milk if the price of cotton remains poor (below US$0.35/kg) and the milk price relatively strong (higher than US$0.38/kg). Price ratios need to remain stable over several seasons given the investments required for a change in production strategy. Furthermore, farmers will only seize the opportunity to engage in dairy if marketing infrastructure and milk markets are further developed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:28:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0210b0907f914b7aac1e9dd8a496f6c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-7311 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T14:28:20Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal |
| spelling | doaj.art-0210b0907f914b7aac1e9dd8a496f6c92022-12-21T18:22:49ZengElsevierAnimal1751-73112015-01-019712211229Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern MaliN. de Ridder0O.M. Sanogo1M.C. Rufino2H. van Keulen3K.E. Giller4Plant Production Systems group, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The NetherlandsPlant Production Systems group, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The Netherlands; Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER), ESPGRN-Sikasso, PO Box 186, Sikasso, MaliInternational Livestock Research Institute, PO Box 30709, 00100 Nairobi, KenyaPlant Production Systems group, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The NetherlandsPlant Production Systems group, Wageningen University, PO Box 430, 6700 AK Wageningen, The NetherlandsUntil the turn of the century, farmers in West Africa considered cotton to be the ‘white gold’ for their livelihoods. Large fluctuations in cotton prices have led farmers to innovate into other business including dairy. Yet the productivity of cows fed traditional diets is very poor, especially during the long dry season. This study combines earlier published results of farmer participatory experiments with simulation modelling to evaluate the lifetime productivity of cows under varying feeding strategies and the resulting economic performance at farm level. We compared the profitability of cotton production to the innovation of dairy. The results show that milk production of the West African Méré breed could be expanded if cows are supplemented and kept stall-fed during the dry season. This option seems to be profitable for better-off farmers, but whether dairy will replace (some of) the role of cotton as the white gold for these smallholder farmers will depend on the cross price elasticity of cotton and milk. Farmers may (partly) replace cotton production for fodder production to produce milk if the price of cotton remains poor (below US$0.35/kg) and the milk price relatively strong (higher than US$0.38/kg). Price ratios need to remain stable over several seasons given the investments required for a change in production strategy. Furthermore, farmers will only seize the opportunity to engage in dairy if marketing infrastructure and milk markets are further developed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731115000178livestock feedinggrazingcottonmilkWest Africa |
| spellingShingle | N. de Ridder O.M. Sanogo M.C. Rufino H. van Keulen K.E. Giller Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali Animal livestock feeding grazing cotton milk West Africa |
| title | Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali |
| title_full | Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali |
| title_fullStr | Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali |
| title_full_unstemmed | Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali |
| title_short | Milk: the new white gold? Milk production options for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali |
| title_sort | milk the new white gold milk production options for smallholder farmers in southern mali |
| topic | livestock feeding grazing cotton milk West Africa |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731115000178 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nderidder milkthenewwhitegoldmilkproductionoptionsforsmallholderfarmersinsouthernmali AT omsanogo milkthenewwhitegoldmilkproductionoptionsforsmallholderfarmersinsouthernmali AT mcrufino milkthenewwhitegoldmilkproductionoptionsforsmallholderfarmersinsouthernmali AT hvankeulen milkthenewwhitegoldmilkproductionoptionsforsmallholderfarmersinsouthernmali AT kegiller milkthenewwhitegoldmilkproductionoptionsforsmallholderfarmersinsouthernmali |