Profitability of agricultural research: the case of genetic improvement of cattle for milk production in Cameroon

Abstract

Data from production and financial records from the Wakwa Centre for Animal and Veterinary Research were used to find out whether or not genetic improvement for dairy production is a profitable investment. The herd projection computer program was used to herd-project the performance of 100 Holstein x Gudali crossbred and 100 Gudali heifers over a 10-year period. Despite the high mortality rate of the crosses, their overall improvement over the local Gudali led to a benefit-cost ratio of 4.21. This suggests that genetic improvement of local cattle through crossbreeding for dairy production can be a profitable venture. Crossbred dairy farming is therefore recommended for the dairy industry in Cameroon.

The impact of dairy cooperatives on milk producers’ revenues of Ihuza Aborozi ba Kijyambere Bafatanyinje (IAKIB) in Gicumbi District of Rwanda. Application of Propensity Score Matching (PSM)

“…Dairying is one of the investment areas in the livestock sector that farmers can venture into to improve their standard of living (Nkwasibwe et al, 2015). In East Africa, especially in Uganda, the dairy sub-sector accounts for approximately 50% of total output from the livestock sector, 20% of the food processing industry, and 4.3% of the national Gross Domestic Product (National Development Plan 2010) and in Salami et al (2010), thus the dairy sub-sector acts as a source of food, income, and employment (Pingpoh et al, 2019) and (Sikawa and Mugisha, 2011). This growth rate has been attributed to the favourable macroeconomic policy environment and institutional reforms including the privatization of the dairy sub-sector (Nkwasibwe et al, 2015), increased demand for milk from both consumers and milk processing plants, better herd management, adoption of improved breeds, and improved animal health and support services (Mbowa et al, 2012).…”