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Adoption of milk cooling technology among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya

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Abstract

Factors influencing adoption of milk cooling technology were studied with data for 90 smallholder dairy farmers who were randomly selected from seven dairy cooperative societies in Kiambu County, Kenya. Logistic regression identified the age of the household head, daily household milk consumption, freehold land ownership, fodder production area, number of female calves, cooperative membership and cooperative services as significant factors influencing farmers’ willingness to invest in milk cooling technology. These findings offer an entry point for increased interventions by policy makers and various dairy sector stakeholders in promoting milk cooling technology with the aim of significantly reducing post-harvest losses and increasing the sector’s competitiveness.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the funding provided by the Danida Fellowship Centre (DFC) and for the data collection facilitation offered by the coordinator of Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Programme (KDSCP) at Land ‘O’ Lakes Inc., Nairobi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958, Frederiksberg C, Denmark

    Florence Gathoni Gachango, Laura Mørch Andersen & Søren Marcus Pedersen

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  1. Florence Gathoni Gachango
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  2. Laura Mørch Andersen
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  3. Søren Marcus Pedersen
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Correspondence to Florence Gathoni Gachango.

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Gachango, F.G., Andersen, L.M. & Pedersen, S.M. Adoption of milk cooling technology among smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya. Trop Anim Health Prod 46, 179–184 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0472-6

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