The impact of dairy production on food security among smallholder farmers: A case study on Land O' Lakes Inc. In the Southern Province of Zambia

Abstract

The dairy industry is an important sector in the household food security of many Zambian families. In this study, the impact of dairy of dairy production on food security among smallholder dairy farmers in Monze and Choma under Land O' Lakes (lol) is a case under consideration. The study used survey data collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 80 farmers which included 50% of beneficiaries and another 50% non beneficiaries of the same geographical location. The sample was drawn randomly from lol baseline survey sample conducted in 2001. Four indicators of food security namely off farm income, income earned from dairy sales, and types of protein foods consumed were tested and found reliable as the overall of food security. Both Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) and the Double Difference (DD) were used to determine the impact of the project on food security. The results showed that for beneficiaries, off farm incomes were not significant at 70%, meat consumed was not significant at 38%), fish consumed was significant at 5%, and the amount earned from dairy sales was not significant at 6l%o, while for non beneficiaries off farm incomes were significant at 9%, meat consumed was significant at 24%, fish consumed was significant at 18%) and incomes earned from dairy sales were significant at 24%. The study concluded that the project intervention had an impact on improved incomes and food security. The project beneficiaries' households had higher incomes from dairy sales and that the differences between them had widened. This was especially true for the value of assets, food security, meat and fish consumed. It is recommended that further research be conducted on marketing and pricing of dairy products, and accessibility of micro loans for project sustainability. More women must also be involved in the project to meet the 30%) participation requirement.