DAIRY FARMING-AN ALTERNATIVE INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITY

By
Mohammad Shamsuddoha
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
E-mail” mdsdoha@gmail.com / mdsdoha@yahoo.com

Abstract
Dairy products are the substantial contributor to food and protein supply of Bangladesh.
Many indigenous small farmers are rearing dairy cattle in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is
considered one of the most suitable countries in the world for dairy farming. Development of
dairy has generated considerable employment through the production and marketing of dairy
and dairy related products. This paper aims to identify whether small and medium dairy
farming can be considered as an alternative income generating activity for the development
of rural and urban poor peoples of Bangladesh.
Keywords: Dairy, Alternative Income Generation, Poor People, Bangladesh

Introduction
80% of the Country's 120 (currently 140) million people live in the rural areas and are highly
dependent on agricultural system that is finely attuned to a tropical monsoon climate (UNDP
2005). Agriculture generates 39% of the GDP and the share of the livestock sub-sector is
2.8% (Brammer et al. 1996). The contribution of the small- scale dairy farming to the welfare
of the community is huge. The main focus is on the identification of the production level of
milk from the homestead dairy, amount of income earned by the dairy farmers, items on
which income from the dairy enterprise is spent and the constraints faced by the small-scale
dairy farmers. Involvement of poor people in all development initiatives including agriculture
is seen as a priority in the national development paradigm. On the other hand, studies on
various development endeavors have also endorsed the fact that while female members of
farm-based households are playing a significant role in agricultural farm and household
activities, their work loads have been consistently higher than that of the male members. Poor
people are involved in different household activities like cooking, food preparation, child-
rearing, livestock and poultry-raising, and household gardening, which are essential for
household maintenance. They are also engaged in post-harvest activities, which include rice
processing (that is, boiling, drying and husking of paddy). The male members of agricultural

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households are involved in field activities while the female members undertake tasks like
seeds preservation, and drying and boiling of paddy. Research studies show that besides their
regular household work, 43% of women are involved in activities related to agriculture, and
almost 15% undertake agriculture as their second occupation.

Low- income country like Bangladesh has always focused on employment generation as a
crucial instrument for achieving a major development goal i.e. poverty reduction (Islam and
Muqtada, 1986). For this objective, the promotion of self-employment or entrepreneurial
development has been regarded as more effective than industrial development (Hye, 1993;
Islam and Muqtada, 1986). Although the progress in poverty reduction in the 1990s was
notable, the incidence of rural poverty remains very high at 53 percent in 2000 (World Bank,
2002). The persistent existence of rural poverty implies that self-employment strategies have
not necessarily opened up sufficient economic opportunities for many of the rural poor. Self-
employment promotion for poverty reduction has been administered through microcredit
programs in Bangladesh. To enable the poor left behind to participate in the rural economy as
entrepreneurs, this paper proposes an alternative self-employment approach for poor
producers. The paper develops this conceptual relationship in a real rural setting through the
observation of an income- generating program implemented by the sample respondents in the
field of indigenous dairy farming.

Objectives of the study

In the light of dairy as an alternative income generating activities for the rural and urban poor
people, the researcher have been focused on indigenous dairy farming in Bangladesh,
comparative analysis of dairy with the other income generating activities, feeding resources
availed by the farmers

Methodologies of the study

The study covered greater Chittagong division in Bangladesh. The total sample respondents
were 100 poor rural and urban people selected purposively to comply with the research
objective. The researcher selected six areas – Nazirhat, Hathazari, Sikalbaha, Potiya, Gahira
& Kadurkhil of Chittagong as the study area. Both primary and secondary data were used in
the study. Primary data were collected from December 2007 to March 2008, mainly through
in-depth interviews with the sample respondents. Secondary data were collected from
different published documents of such as Survey reports, Five Year Plans, and Statistical

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Yearbooks. Further, various publications of national and international organizations like
NGO Forums, CODEC, DFID, NRI etc were collected. In the process of analyses of collected
data, various statistical tools like averages, percentages, and tables were applied in order to
make the study worthier, informative, and useful for the purposes.

Indigenous Dairy Farming in Bangladesh

The dependency of rural poor on livestock for their livelihood is quite substantial and this
situation is likely to continue for the years to come. More than 90 % of cattle, buffaloes, and
goat are being reared in rural areas (GOI, 2006). Among the livestock, dairy cattle play a
pivotal role in the livelihoods of the poor people especially those who are poor not only in
land assets but also in literacy, access to infrastructure facilities, information and basically
unskilled. These rural poor had no option but to take up dairy farming as a main occupation
as it is the only enterprise which could provide regular income (Milk Money) serve as asset
(moving bank). Dairy farming forms the second or third largest economic activity in the
country (Rao et al, 2004).

Dairy farming basically a crop residue based enterprise is slowly getting transformed into
external input based system where in the dairy farmers have to depend upon purchased inputs
to rear cattle. The importance of feeds in dairy farming needs no emphasis. With increase in
the pressure on land due to urbanizations and industrializations and decrease in the area under
food crops coupled with increasing demand for milk and milk products the dependency on
external or purchased inputs is increasing concomitantly putting pressure on the dairy farmers
especially the resource poor. Efforts are being made to reduce the yawning gap between the
requirement and availability of feeds and fodders which include technological interventions
to increase the yields, bringing more area under fodder crops, conservation of feeds and
fodders, improving the nutritive value of the poor quality roughages, formulation of balanced
rations, feeding of unconventional feeds etc (Rao et. el., 2007). This study explores how the
rural poor can participate in the rural economy as entrepreneurs. It starts by briefly reviewing
the conventional approach to self-employment promotion for the rural poor and proposes the
concept of an alternative approach to help the poor participate in the rural economy through
self-employment. Findings from the empirical examination make the alternative approach
substantial.

Dairy: An Alternative Income Generating Activity

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Income generating activities are the prime determinants of level of income. Income is the
important ingredient of purchasing ability and thereby fundamentally affects livelihood of the
target people. It is generally observed that increase in income is followed by subsequent rise
in demand for and search for quality, which pave the way towards better livelihood. Again,
the income generating activities varies based on gender and season. In this connection, we
were interested to know about different IGA of the female respondents and also the average
income derived from such IGAs per month, which is shown below –
Table: Income generating Activities of women respondents
Average Average Average
Technology
Activities Frequency in % Cost/ Income/Month Profit/
and Inputs
Month (In Taka) Month
Weaving Local 12 250 500 250
Bamboo works Local 16 300 750 450
Vegetable farming Local 26 950 1500 650
Dairy or cattle raising Local 23 250 850 600
Poultry Local 23 150 450 300
* I Dollar = Taka 68, Source: Field survey
From the above table and figures, it is evident that the principal activity of the poor people
vegetable farming (26%), followed by dairy and poultry (both 23%), Bamboo works &
Handicrafts (16%), and weaving (51.67%). The average incomes of the respondents from
these activities are vegetable farming (Taka 650), followed by dairy (Taka 600), poultry
(Taka 300), Bamboo works & Handic rafts (Taka 450) and weaving (Taka 250). It is showing
that dairy is producing more money than the other income generating activities in the context
of input cost.

Among several income- generating programs, this study focuses on dairy farming. This
economic activity is highly replicable in other Bangladeshi settings because the dairy sector
has sufficient and increasing domestic demands for its final products, whereas a successful
case of handicraft-making in a specific locality cannot be easily replicated in other localities
due to difficulties in the procurement of raw materials and limited marketing opportunities.
The researchers have observed that most of the respondents are interested in rearing 3-5 or 5-
8 cows in its local made dairy house.

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 Table: Feeding resources and feeding practices by the farmers

Source: Rashid, M.M. et. el., (2007)1 ,

The above table showing that most of the sources of dairy feed are available through local
sources such as homestead, rice bran, road side grass, riverside, play ground, embankment
which does not have any cost. Besides that, some other few things has to purchased from the
local market by the farmers.

Conclusion
Rural and urban poor people can play a significant role in the agricultural sector by
emphasizing dairy subsector in Bangladesh. Development initiatives over the last few
decades clearly showed that sustained improvements in productivity and in people's lives
depend upon the recognition of the crucial role played by the poor farmers in production,
processing and marketing in the small-scale entrepreneurial sector in the country. In addition,
this IGA could give more social acceptability in a sense of self- sufficiency, generating
consistent revenue, easy mode of loan facilities from the financiers/NGOs, waste
management (dairy wastage could be used in the agricultural land as an alternative of
fertilizer or help to generate fireworks for rural burner in kitchen). As an IGA, dairy is one of

1
Rashid, M.M. et. el., 2007, “ Study of the Dairy Cattle Management Systems at Farmer’s
Level in Jessore District of Bangladesh”, Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 6 (2): 155-158, 2007,
ISSN 1680-5194

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the handful and important activities which can able to generate more revenue than the other
activities to the rural and urban poor people.

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