Academe Research Journals

Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development

Full Length Research Paper

Determinants of smallholder dairy farming adoption in Malawi: A microeconometric analysis

W. G. Lipita¹*, D. H. Ng'ong'ola², L. A. Kamwanja, C. Mataya, T. N. Gondwe² and H. Kankwamba²

¹Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development, Lilongwe, Malawi.

²Bunda College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: wglipita@hotmail.com.

Accepted 7 September, 2015

Abstract

Understanding determinants of smallholder dairy farming adoption is a necessary condition for agricultural development in Malawi. Overtime, there have been lower adoption rates making Malawi one of the countries with an under developed dairy industry. Currently, little effort has been made to examine the determinants of adoption of any smallholder dairy farming. This study was conducted in all the three milk shed areas of the country using proportionate probability sampling to get a representative cross-section sample of dairy farming adopters and non-adopters. A sample size of 360 smallholder dairy farmers was randomly selected from different farming systems. An Average Treatment Effects Probit model was used to identify determinants of adoption. The study finds that adopters of dairy farming have higher incomes than non-adopters. Per capita income for adopters was K278000 compared to K86438 for the non-adopters. Further, dairy farming is mainly practiced by male headed households. It has also been found that formal education has positive effects on dairy farming adoption in the area. Household size and annual per capita expenditure also significantly affect adoption of dairy farming positively. Location of a milk bulking group in terms of region affects dairy farming adoption with Agricultural Development Divisions (ADDs) having high population such as the Southern region having high propensity to adoption of dairy farming. The study recommends a deliberate policy to increase dairy farming productivity to improve incomes of participating farmers and the country as a whole.

Key words: Dairy farming, adoption, Probit model, Malawi.