Characteristics of Dairy farming
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A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and December 2013 to characterise the dairy farming in Unguja island of Zanzibar in the United Republic of Tanzania. The study also assessed the effects of management on milk production. A total number of 203 dairy farmers were randomly selected from three districts of Unguja Islands and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire as well direct observations to capture information on dairy farming and factors affecting milk production.
It was found that a dairy farmer possesses, on average, seven dairy cattle (range 1-31) and two lactating cows (range 1-8). West district had bigger average herd size of 7.5 followed by North B with 7.3 and Central with 6.2 cows per farm but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). West district had bigger average number of lactating cows (2.4) compared to Central (1.9) and North B (1.8), the difference was statistical significant (P<0.05). More than two thirds (72%) of the farmers interviewed kept crossbreed dairy cattle that were managed mostly by intensive grazing system (65%). Only 61% of the respondents had constructed shed for their dairy animals. About 86% of the farmers provided maize bran, pollard or a mixture of the two as supplement feeds for their lactating cows, a practice which also differed significantly between the study districts (P<0.05). Average daily milk production was 7.6±3.6 litres per cow per day. Average milk production was higher in West district (8.0/litres/day) compared to Central (7.2 /litres/day) and North B (6.9 /litres/day), the difference between districts was statistically significant (P<0.05). It is concluded that dairy farming in Unguja Island operate under poor farm management, deprived hygiene and improper milking techniques that needs improvement to optimise milk production in terms of quality and quantity.
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