Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Ethiopia's large livestock population and livestock-friendly climate make it a country with enormous potential for dairy development. Through the creation of jobs and revenue, milk and milk products make significant contributions to both the national and home economies. One of the main issues facing the nation's milk industry is postharvest losses. This study was carried out in the Jimma and Bunno Bedalle zones to evaluate the performance of a better plastic milk churner with farmers’ participation. Fifty households were chosen from five rural kebeles where the production of butter from milk has a long history. Seven liters of sour milk were used to test both churners, and based on the average outcome, the upgraded churner produced noticeably more butter (55 percent, 56 grams per liter) than the conventional clay pot (39 percent, 37 grams per liter). In addition, it took a lot longer for the conventional butter processing mechanism to churn (an average of 65 minutes) than the upgraded churner (30 minutes). In summary, a better churner was chosen over a local one because it produced more butter, was more efficient at producing butter, and took less time to churn. By including men in the milk chain, using an upgraded churner could also help to lessen gender inequality.
Source: Innovation
Authors: Husen Bona, Teshome Wakeyo, Tolasa Berhanu
Institution: Oromia Agricultural Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413842374