Factors Affecting Packed and Unpacked Fluid Milk Consumption in Wolaita Zone of SNNP Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify factors affecting packed and unpacked fluid milkconsumption preferences of households in Wolaita zone. A total of 194 randomly sampledconsumer households of 3 towns of Waliata zone were studied using semi-structuredquestionnaire. All the data collected were analyzed using Multinomial Logit Model. Theresult obtained indicated that 78.4% of the households consumed only unpacked fluid milk,7.7% of households consumed only packed fluid milk and 13.9% of households consumedboth unpacked and packed fluid milk. Multinomial Logit model results showed that variablessuch as age of household heads, income level of households, households with at least a childunder six years of age and milking cow, households who disagree with the statement 'packedfluid milk fattens children' and households who disagree with the statement 'advertisementinfluences people to buy more packed fluid milk', significantly affected consumption ofunpacked fluid milk. Education status of household heads, young aged household heads,medical prescription, households who accept the statement 'sterilized milk containspreservatives' reported to have consumed packed fluid milk. Moreover, consumers who agreewith the statement 'price of packed fluid milk is expensive compared with unpacked fluidmilk' were less likely to consume packed fluid milk. The general implication is that asignificant portion of unpacked fluid milk is reported to be consumed in the study areawithout quality and hygienic inspection. This situation seems to warrant the governments tointroduce new policy tools to improve the hygiene and quality of unpacked fluid milk. Milkproducing and processing companies need to design better pricing, promotion andadvertising strategies for fluid milk consumption to attract consumers. Furthermore, fluidmilk processing enterprises and importers need to improve their processing technologicalstatus aimed at reducing cost of processing and marketing to attract consumers.