Milk Market Of Small Scale Artisan Cheese Factories In Selected Livestock Watersheds Of Honduras And Nicaragua

Livestock Research for Rural Development (13) 1 2001 | http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd13/1/holm131.htm |
Milk market of small scale artisan cheese factories in selected livestock watersheds of Honduras and Nicaragua
Federico Holmann
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).  PO Box 6713, Cali, Colombia.
F.Holmann@cgiar.orgAbstract
Surveys were made of rural artisan cheese factories located in the region of Olancho, Catacamas, and Juticalpa in Honduras (n=10) and  in Esquipulas and Muy-Muy in Nicaragua (n=13).  The objective was to analyze the milk market of small rural artisan cheese factories in livestock watersheds of Honduras and Nicaragua to determine if:
* there is a market for higher milk production* how much additional milk can the market absorb in each season of the year 
* there is a market for milk of higher hygienic quality.  
The main buyer of the milk from small and medium scale farmers in Honduras and Nicaragua is the rural artisan cheese industry, which absorbs almost 80% of the milk produced in both countries.  Total milk production during the rainy season is abouttwice that during the dry season, causing an over-supply and scarcity of milk, respectively. The shortage of fluid milk during the dry season leads to an unsatisfied market. The artisan cheese factories in Honduras and Nicaragua would be willing to buy 76% and 55% more milk during the dry season, but this supply is not available due low milk productivity.  This fact suggests that an aggressiveprogram for the promotion of shrub legumes with sugarcane to supplement the herd during the dry season would have more impact that the promotion of grasses or legumes for the rainy season when there is little market for additional milk produced.  In addition, rural artisan cheese factories in Honduras and Nicaragua, that consider the milk they collect is of bad quality, would be willing to pay a higherprice if the option to collect milk of better hygienic quality exists. In Honduras this price would be about 9% higher during the dry season and 11% higher during  the rainy season.  In Nicaragua the cheese factories would be willing to pay a milk price which is 17% higher, but only during the rainy season. As a result, large incentives exist in both countries to increase milk production duringthe dry season and to improve the hygienic quality of milk in the studied areas.
Keywords: Milk market, milk quality, small scale cheese factories, Honduras,  Nicaragua 

Introduction
Milk production 
The production of fresh milk in Central America is about 2 billion liters per year. Of this amount, Honduras produces about 26% and Nicaragua 12% (Umaña 1998). These figures indicate an annualper capita consumption of about 110 kg of milk in Honduras (16% imported) and 42 kg in Nicaragua (11% imported). 
The dominant production system in Central America is the dual-purpose, where cows are milked by hand once a day and both male and female calves are raised and sold shortly after weaning. The genetic base in this production system is Bos indicus (mainly Brahman) and crossbreds withBos taurus breeds (usually Holstein). The most abundant feed resources are native forages and crop residues, but their quality and quantity is low. Thus, milk productivity is also low (800 to 900 kg milk/lactation). In addition, another constraint is that forage supply is related to availability of rains. During the 6-month dry season (from December to May), the quantity of forage on offeris minimum, especially grasses, and thus milk production drops sharply compared to the rainy season when there is abundance of green pastures. Milk production during the dry season is about 40% lower compared to the rainy season in both countries (Argel 1999a; 1999b). 
The Tropileche Consortium operates in both Honduras and Nicaragua. The objective is to test and promote legume-based forages to...