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PULL AND PUSH FACTORS FOR PRODUCERS’ MEMBERSHIP IN DAIRY MARKETING COOPERATIVES IN JIMMA ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

Despite the efforts made to promote dairy marketing cooperatives, smallholder dairy producers in rural Ethiopia, prefer informal markets to sell their dairy products. The factors determining their preference towards formal markets such as membership into cooperatives is not well identified. In this paper, we analyze the key factors affecting smallholder dairy producers’ membership into dairy marketing cooperatives in Ethiopia using cross-sectional survey data from 73 cooperative members and 149 non-members, and probit regression models. We found positive effects of age, sex and education of household head and frequency of extension services; and negative effects of distance to the cooperative milk collection centers on dairy producers’ preference for membership into dairy marketing cooperatives. The findings imply the need for awareness initiatives – strengthening extension services, trainings and demonstrations; enhancing access to technology; and infrastructure development. Particularly, affirmative action in the form of targeted intervention is needed to enhance female headed households’ membership into dairy marketing cooperatives and to help them benefit from collective actions.