The profitability of cheese production in Ola-Oluwa local government area, Osun State

Abstract

The study carried out an economic analysis of cheese production in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area, Osun State, Nigeria. It described the socioeconomic characteristics of the cheese producers, identify the constraints and determine the cost and return on cheese production. A two-stage sampling procedure, cluster sampling to select 10 communities and snowball sampling to select 12 cheese producers, was used to select 120 respondents. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages and mean) and inferential statistics (budgetary and regression analyses) were used to analyse data obtained. Findings reveal that all (100.0%) were female, 40.8% were within the age range 41-50 years and 95.0% were married. More than two-thirds (78.3%) had enterprise experience ranging from 18 to37 years, 53.3% had no formal education and the mean household sizes was 7 persons. The
major constraints faced by cheese producers are inadequate funding (85.8%), distance to market (68.3%), farmer/herders’ conflicts (65.0%) and insufficient fodder (56.7%). Total revenue from cheese production was N481882.50, while the total variable coast was N372, 000 giving a gross margin of N109882.50 with the net farm income of N107136.10. Cost of raw milk (t = 5.460), cost of packing (t = 5.190) and the number of lactating cows (t = 6.230) had a positive influence on gross margin of cheese producers and was significant at 1% level. Similarly, cheese production experience and cost of preservative were positive and significant at 5% and 10% level, respectively. In conclusion, cheese production was profitable in the study area but the producers
should adopt modern technology in producing cheese to meet the international standard to enhance the gross margin profit.