A market survey was conducted in Misungwi District to explore interventions towards increased milk processing. A total of 99 producers, 34 transporters and 11 traders of milk from six villages of the district were interviewed using questionnaires. It was found that at least 24,180.7 liters of milk are marketed from farmers every day in Misungwi. Majority (61.2 %) of the milk selling households sold milk to consumers and some others (35.8 %) sold to transporters whereas few (3 %) sold to traders. Prices per liter of milk fetched by producers, transporters and traders were 854, 1,680 and 2,122 TSHs, respectively. Accessibility to electricity, roads, extension, veterinary, inputs and water services was considered at least satisfactory by 95.9 %, 78.8 %, 83.9 %, 86.1 %, 49.5 % and 50.5 % of producers, respectively in the district. Supermarket and shops found in the district were selling packaged milk at a price of 3750 TSHs per liter. All milk transporters used bicycles and considerable part (44%) of them carried milk using un-recommended plastic containers. Milk quality testing is not commonly practiced in milk trading. The major chain bottleneck observed was thus identified to be underdevelopment of milk collection and lack of industrial scale dairy processor. The main intervention that was recommended is capitalizing on progressive farmers by organizing them to form dairy cooperatives. These can be capacitated to perform vibrantly functions of milk collection and processing and also to act as pivotal points for streamlining quality control through quality testing. The cooperative can be backed by existing service providers from both public and private sectors to combat the existing challenges. Major adaptation needed is coping with the dispersed and mobility nature of the milk producers which can be achieved by establishing an extensive but highly accessible milk bulking network.

Livestock keeping is an important livelihood option in the tropics and cattle play the major role. For sub-Saharan Africa, most of the cattle kept are of indigenous type exhibiting low to medium production coefficients. After realizing low impact with crossbreeding in improving their productivity during the first three quarters of the 20th century, many sub-Saharan Africa countries turned to adoption of selection schemes during the last quarter of the century. However, many countries still haven’t realized active operation of selection schemes for indigenous breeds improvement. Major constraints are unsustainable financing, weak coordination, inadequate policy support and weak technical foundation for animal breeding. Existing infrastructure networks are not supporting extensive operation of selective breeding. Systematized pedigree and performance data recording is lacking in many countries. Important guidelines for streamlining implementation of breeding operations among actors are not in place. Strategies for adapting selection schemes in sub-Saharan Africa should target exploitation of unique potentials of indigenous breeds and focus to the improvement of their productivity while also maintaining their adaptability. From the prevailing conditions, considering immediate transformation to farmer-operated central nuclei is not recommended in structuring the scheme. What is recommended is to start with dispersed village-based group pre-nuclei which are backed by institutional central nuclei. Important strategies in enabling effective operation with such structured schemes include evolving guidelines for implementing selection in terms of defining breeding objectives, increasing involvement of farmers, strengthening coordination of animal breeding, promoting inter-institutional collaboration, and considering some more government financial support.