SWOT Analysis of traditional skimmed milk chain around Greater Cairo. Egyptian Journal of Animal Production 54(2), 111-123

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Egyptian J. Anim. Prod. (2017) 54(2):111-123
Issued by The Egyptian Society of Animal Production
SWOT ANALYSIS OF TRADITIONAL SKIMMED MILK CHAIN AROUND
GREATER CAIRO
S. Abdelghany1, C. Corniaux2, V. Alary3, M. A. Radwan1 and Amal K. El-Asheeri1
1-Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt, 2- International
Centre for Research in Agriculture and Development (CIRAD), Montpellier, France, 3- CIRAD/ICARDA
(International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas), Rabat, Morocco.
SUMMARY
The aim of this study was to apply SWOT analysis on traditional skimmed milk chain around Greater Cairo
which considered as one of the main dairy markets in Egypt. This study was carried out in El-Reka village
located in south of Greater Cairo, (Giza governorate), nearby Beni Suef governorate. SWOT analysis was
applied including food safety aspect and value chain analysis to raise the major advantages and constraints of
the traditional sector. This study was based on regular field visits, interviews, and analysis of milk samples.
Main stakeholders of the chain were farmers, owners of milk collection points, owners of milk collection
centers, and owners of dairy processing units. SWOT analysis allowed highlighting the major role of the social
network to explain the flexibility and adaptability of this sector to the major constraints in link with
international competitiveness and national constraints, mainly on the limitation of land access. Other
weaknesses concerned high feedstuffs prices on markets, and lack of public services, in terms of milk quality
control and herd management at farm level. The high dynamic of the traditional sector was identified,
particularly at milk collection points in terms of quantity of collected milk and milk price. However, the social
network opens interesting opportunities to develop efficient and flexible services. These elements could help
decision makers and developers to prioritize sustainable development activities in link with global agenda of the
agricultural sector and increasing demand for dairy products in Egypt. Selling skimmed milk is the most
attractive scenario for small farmers that led to a fast growing of skimmed milk collection compared with whole
milk. The traditional skimmed milk chain showed high ability to adopt quality control protocols based on
market signals and milk processing units' standards. Governmental and non-governmental activities could
propose new policies to protect the traditional actors along the chain. Specific dairy quality control programs
should be developed along the chain. Therefore, dairy sector regulations and rules should be reviewed to make
balance along the chain and to set fair pricing system and guarantee food safety for all consumers in local
villages and cities markets.
Keywords: Traditional skimmed milk, value chain, SWOT analysis, buffaloes, Greater Cairo
INTRODUCTION
Egypt is one of the countries with the highest
urban population density along the Nile Valley and
Nile Delta. The total population reached 88.4 million
in 2015 (CAPMAS, 2015. Agriculture is one of the
main sectors of the Egyptian economy (13.2 % GDP
in 2010, El-Ramady et al., 2013), which providing
livelihoods for 55 % of the population and about 30
% of employment (IFAD, 2012). Dairy sector is one
of the main agricultural sectors with high socio-
economic impacts on rural communities and
providing dairy products for both rural and urban
areas.
According to FAO (2015), Egypt produced about
5.9 million tons of whole milk in 2013; about 2.6
million tons out of that was produced by buffalo
representing 44.1 % of milk production. Huge
amounts of milk are produced by traditional farms
through local cattle and buffalo hold by smallholders
in scattering herds and fragmenting production as
reported by Abou El-Amaiem (2014). This traditional
sector was suffering from many problems; one of
them is the lack of recording systems or quality
control practices that limit planning and improvement
activities. Besides, this traditional sector offers a lot
of jobs and plays an important economic and social
role in the rural communities, where the majority of
the demand depends on the traditional dairy products.
Commercial dairy companies use mainly cattle
milk which is produced by large and medium
commercial farms with high quality and they also
depend on the imported powder milk to cover 20-50
% of quantity required to be processed by industrial
dairy processing plants.
A supply chain is a network of retailers,
distributors, transporters, storage facilities and
suppliers involved in the production, transportation
and marketing of a specific product (Bacarin et al.,
2004). Webber and Labaste (2010) reported that
value chain approach is used to guide and to enhance
impacts of sustainable initiatives focused on
improving productivity, competitiveness,
entrepreneurship, and the growth of small and
medium enterprises. In the dairy chain, milk
collection center (MCC) is a “logistic” link between
farmers and processing industrials (Demirbas et al.,
2009). Also, MCCs play intermediary roles for

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smallholders to enable them to enter the commercial
selling of milk through the processors and get access
to the market. Also, MCCs were very important
intermediaries to control milk quality and to
guarantee food safety (Sayin et al., 2011).
In Egypt, cheese is an important component of the
daily Egyptian meals (Todaro et al., 2013), mainly
made from skimmed milk. Karish cheese (is an
Egyptian white cheese made from buffalo or mixed
buffalo and cattle skimmed milk, that yield around
20-30 %) is the most popular cheese in Egypt,
especially in rural zones (Awad et al., 2014). Egypt is
the largest cheese producer in the Middle East and it
is ranked the sixth on the world with a production of
720,000 tons in 2012. This production is expected to
reach 980,000 tons in 2020 (Mikkelsen, 2014). The
cheese consumption in Egypt was about seven
kg/capita/year (Rome, 2006).
However, there is a huge data shortage about
skimmed milk chain in Egypt. The current analysis
was based on the supply chain approach that gives us
the framework for identification and characterization
of the actors involved in this value chain. The
objectives of this study were: monitoring the
dynamic of traditional skimmed milk chains around
Greater Cairo and applying SWOT analysis to
propose recommendations for policy decision makers
and even researchers to improve the whole dairy
production system.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Source of data:
Our case study focused on the dynamic of one
MCC specialized in skimmed milk collection. This
study was carried out in El-Reka village located in
south of Greater Cairo, (Giza governorate), nearby
Beni Suef governorate. The MCC in El-Reka village
is one of the main hubs of skimmed milk in Greater
Cairo with a capacity of around 20 ton/day. This
study started in March 2013 till August 2015. A total
number of 21 farmers, eight milk collection points
(MCPs) owners, one milk collection center (MCC)
owner and 4 milk processing units (MPUs) owners
were visited regularly and the interviews were based
on semi-structure questionnaires. Also, MCC
skimmed milk records from 2013 to 2015 were
collected and registered. GPS check points for each
point of the value chain were collected and used to
draw maps by Arc GIS software (ArcMap 10.2.2).
The data of the international prices of skimmed
powder from 2010 to 2015 were collected through
Global Dairy Trade (2015).
The analysis of milk marketing strategies (selling
buffalo milk, selling skimmed milk plus butter and
selling Karish cheese plus butter) were based on the
primary data collected from farmers from winter
2013 till summer 2014. This follow-up included data
regarding quantity of daily milk, milk marketing
quantity and prices of fresh milk and dairy products
(like skimmed milk, Karish cheese and butter).
Besides, return percentage of price for buffalo milk,
cattle milk and skimmed milk were calculated based
on recorded data collected from 1994 to 2015 at
MCC level using this formula:
Return %= (selling price-purchasing price)/
purchasing price*100. (Botchkarev et al., 2011)
Bacterial count analysis:
Complementary milk quality tests in terms of
total bacterial count analysis were applied for milk
samples (50 ml) that have been collected from 15
farmers per village in 16 villages which supplied the
MCC and from 3 tanks (stored skimmed milk)
located at the MCC, to count the total bacterial every
three months (January, May and August 2015). These
three periods represent the three main seasons:
winter, spring and summer. This analysis was applied
to judge the hygienic conditions at farm level, at
village level and through transportation to the MCC.
The test was carried out in Microbiology Research
Lab at Cairo University Research Park (CURP).
Simple descriptive statistics analysis were conducted
at farm level, village level and processing level. The
employment created by skimmed milk value chain
has been estimated on the quantity of skimmed milk
collected divided by the total number of labors and
owners per each MCPs and MCC through three
seasons (winter, spring and summer).
SOWT analysis:
All the qualitative and quantities data collected
during the follow up and interviews along the chain
have been used to apply SWOT analysis. SWOT
analysis principles starts with defining current
situations (pro SWOT) followed by analysis of
external environment to define the Opportunities and
Threats, then analysis internal environment to define
the strengths and weaknesses (Bernroider, 2002). The
results of SWOT analysis is usually used to elaborate
the recommendations. In this study, the diagnosis of
the current situation and the identification of the
variables of the external and internal environment
were based on the value chain approach.
RESULTS
Main actors along the skimmed milk value chain:
Identification of the main actors along the chain
and the links between them was the basic step for the
value chain approach. The main actors along the
chain are shown in Figure (1). This approach allowed
representing the links between different actors, the
role of milk collection points in scattered villages and
the central milk collection as a main hub for milk
collection. In this value chain, the MCC linked
transition points for all milk collected with market
through collecting and cooling milk and reloading it
again for milk processing units.
Milk production and marketing at Farm level:
The smallholders dominated in this area, which
based on crop-livestock farming system with local

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113
buffaloes and crossbred cattle. All characteristics of
this system were presented in (Table 1).
Figure 1. Skimmed milk chain map around Greater Cairo. (MCC: Milk Collection Center)
Table 1. Mean, Standard Deviation and Coefficient of Variation (%) of studied characteristics of crop/
livestock farming system (21 farmers)
Item Mean SD CV (%) Min Max
Family size 7.2 2.6 35.8 4.0 14.0
Farm size (hectare) 0.6 0.8 135.3 0.1 4.0
Cultivated area by forage (hectare) 0.3 0.2 79.3 0.1 0.7
Owned area (%) 23.9 35.6 149.7 0.0 100.0
Rented area (%) 76.1 35.6 46.6 0.0 100.0
Forage area (%) 57.0 25.6 44.8 17.1 100.0
Cereal area (%) 19.2 22.3 114.9 0.0 54.5
Vegetable area (%) 23.8 25.7 108.0 0.0 75.0
Herd size (heads) 3.1 2.9 92.6 1.0 13
Lactating animal (heads) 2.0 1.4 67.3 1.0 5.7
Milk production (kg/farmer/day) 8.9 5.6 63.4 4.0 25.5
Proportion of milk consumed as fresh from
production % 9.1 4.3 47.0 0.0 15.4
Veal age at sold (day) 38.0 8.6 22.7 25 80
SD: Standard Deviation, CV: Coefficient of Variation
Farmers had different strategies for milk
marketing as presented in Figure (2). They have a
possibility for selling the whole buffalo milk by EGP
4.5 per liter or skim milk to get skimmed milk and
cream. Cream was used to produce butter that could
be sold by around EGP 45 per kg. Skimmed milk
used to produce Karish cheese that sold by EGP 6 per
kg or the skimmed milk could be sold to MCC by
EGP 1.25 per liter.
In Figure (3) milk receipted from different
strategies per day per farmer (based on average 8.9
liter/day/farmer) have been estimated. Selling whole
milk generates lower income compared to selling
skimmed milk plus butter or selling Karish cheese
and butter (149 % and 153 % of income relative to

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sale whole milk, respectively). The third strategy
needs a lot of efforts to process cheese and the
marketing is highly risky due to technical and
economic uncertainties like high fluctuation of
cheese price and demand. While, selling skimmed
milk was guaranteed regular income for farmers.
Figure 2. Description of the different strategies of milk marketing at farm level.
Figure 3. The Expected milk receipt from different milk marketing Strategies (as average daily receipt
/farmer).
Milk collection points:
MCPs basically belong to MCC, MCPs had milk
separators to produce milk fat and skimmed milk.
The majority of owners of the MCPs were women.
The separation operation was carried out from many
years ago. After milking animals, women went to
MCPs to get the cream and skimmed milk which
used to produce butterfat and Karish cheese. The cost
of separation was EGP 2-3 per head of animal/week.
The first MCP started dealing with the MCC
since 15 years ago. Now, 239 MCPs distributed in 16
villages deal with the MCC of El-Reka. Table (2)
shows the number of MCPs and number of farmers,
while Table (3) shows the quantity of skimmed milk
collected per each village through the three seasons
in 2015. The peak of milk collection was in spring
(38% of annual collection); followed by summer
season (33%). The lowest amount of skimmed milk
was registered in winter season (29%) (Table 3).

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Table 2. Number of milk collection points, number of farmers and overall mean (± SD) per each village
through winter, spring and summer seasons 2015
Village
Winter Spring Summer No. MCPs No. farmers
No.
MCPs
No.
farmers
No.
MCPs
No.
farmers
No.
MCPs
No.
farmers µ SD µ SD
V1 8 87 9 87 7 74 8 1.0 83 7.5
V2 14 206 15 244 16 248 15 1.0 233 23.2
V3 14 131 15 146 15 177 15 0.6 151 23.5
V4 2 16 2 25 2 43 2 0.0 28 13.7
V5 7 84 3 46 5 77 5 2.0 69 20.2
V6 8 149 9 195 8 204 8 0.6 183 29.5
V7 6 54 7 86 10 206 8 2.1 115 80.1
V8 11 263 14 275 15 230 13 2.1 256 23.3
V9 17 182 19 189 18 178 18 1.0 183 5.6
V10 31 273 35 310 33 298 33 2.0 294 18.9
V11 1 18 1 32 1 23 1 0.0 24 7.1
V12 42 509 48 621 47 769 46 3.2 633 130.4
V13 10 144 13 202 13 190 12 1.7 179 30.6
V14 20 319 21 306 23 331 21 1.5 319 12.5
V15 6 58 12 89 15 188 11 4.6 112 67.9
V16 9 62 11 107 11 145 10 1.2 105 41.5
Total 206 2555 234 2960 239 3381 226 2965
MCPs: milk collection points, SD: Standard deviation, µ: overall mean.
Table 3. The quantity of skimmed milk (liters/week) through winter, spring and summer seasons 2015and
overall mean (± SD) per each village
Village Winter Spring
Summer
µ
SD
V1 4510 4425 2888 3941 912.9
V2 5364 6522 6282 6056 611.2
V3 3504 3872 3575 3650 195.2
V4 397 582 1148 709 391.3
V5 3542 3378 3778 3566 201.1
V6 3807 7085 5894 5595 1659.3
V7 1482 2590 4697 2923 1633.2
V8 8834 12316 7809 9653 2362.5
V9 6727 5152 5295 5725 871.0
V10 11426 14874 11072 12458 2100.2
V11 638 1032 503 724 275.1
V12 17336 26169 23877 22461 4583.7
V13 4849 7430 4714 5664 1530.6
V14 10420 11487 9077 10328 1207.6
V15 1630 2948 4821 3133 1603.3
V16 2042 2924 4657 3208 1330.4
Total 86,508
(29%)
112,786
(38%)
100,087
(33%)
µ: overall mean, SD: Standard deviation.
Milk collection center (MCC):
El-Reka MCC dealt with around 3381 farmers
through MCPs in 2015. MCPs sent weekly the milk
quantities records that checked by the MCC. In
return, the MCC paid directly to farmers through
MCPs. The price of one liter skimmed milk was
between EGP 1.10 -1.40 for the farmers through the
study period.

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The MCC sent its labors (permanent workers
without contract) twice a day to collect the skimmed
milk by vehicles. The collectors measured the density
for each MCP by Lactometer, and then the MCC sold
the skimmed milk by 1.60-2.20 EGP/liter according
to the outlets distance and quantity. Sometimes, the
MCC got extra quantity of skimmed milk from other
traders, especially when the demand increased in
order to keep strong relationships with all available
outlets.
Social network plays an important role in this
chain. MCC applied many practices to keep the
relations with farmers and MCPs and to protect the
enterprise, notably through participation in social
events and through introducing loans in financial
crisis. Also, the MCC owner provided separators
scales and money for maintenance and regular visits
especially in occasions to strength the social network
with MCPs owners. When the demand increases, the
MCC might find other sources of skimmed milk like
private traders to secure the milk sourcing and
engagement regarding the outlets. Moreover, one of
the pillars of the MCC was the use of family labors:
the MCC based on a large social network and
relatives to sustain the enterprise.
Dairy Processing Units (DPUs):
According to the quantity of skimmed milk
obtained through the studied MCC, two types of
dairy processing units had been identified: 1) the
small processing units(n= 12) that received 75.4
tons/week (45.4 % of total milk collected by the
MCC) with an average of 6.3 tons/week for each
DPUs; and 2) the large processing units (n=3) that
received 90.8 tons/week (54.6 % of total milk
collected by the MCC) with an average of 30.3
tons/week, as shown in Table 4. Dairy processing
units preferred to use skimmed milk because of its
lower price compared to whole milk. Most of small
processing units produce Karish cheese and white
cheese (Feta, Istanboly, Baramily and Talaga; which
considered as traditional white cheeses produced in
Egypt from whole or skimmed milk). The main
season of producing white cheese between November
and May and it might be extended to July according
to market demands.
Small DPUs characterized by limited
technologies, a few numbers of labors (1-4 labors),
with no scientific background about dairy
technology, a limited equipment and production.
Also, according to the cheese makers, each 100 liters
of skimmed milk produces around 26-30 kg Karish
cheese (26-30%). The price of 10 kg Karish cheese
that sold to shops or distrusters was around EGP 100.
Consumers (majority from Greater Cairo) purchased
Karish cheese from shops (dairy or glossary shops)
with around EGP 12-18 per kg.
Most of skimmed milk collected from villages of
Beni Suef governorate and chilled delivered through
the El-Reka MCC, before being transported to
different outlets (small and large DPUs) in Greater
Cairo as showed in Figure (4).
Table 4. Quantity of skimmed milk (tons/week), No. of dairy processing units (DPUs), percentage from
total skimmed milk that MCC collected, mean ± SD and CV % for small and large DPUs
DPU No. (tons/week) % of total
Mean
(ton/week/DPU) SD CV (%)
Small 12 75.4 45.4 6.3 2.4
38.2
Large 3 90.8 54.6 30.3 3.7
12.2
DPUs: dairy processing units, SD: Standard deviation; CV: Coefficient of variance.
Figure 4. Map of the milk collection points (MCPs) in 16 villages, milk collection center (MCC) in El-
Reka village and small and large dairy processing units (DPU). Source Google Earth scale 183.9 km.

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Dynamic of skimmed milk at MCC level
MCC owner in El-Reka village had started to
collect buffalo milk in 1994 with few amount of milk
(20 liters/ day from relatives).
The quantity of buffalo milk increased slowly till
year 2000; the amount reached 300 liters/day, when
the MCC had started to collect skimmed milk
(around 500 liters/day). In 2008, the collection of
skimmed milk has dramatically increased to reach 5.5
tons/day. In 2015, the quantity of milk collected
reached around 20 tons/day. Buffalo milk collection
did not increase and still fixed with an average
quantity of 500-600 liters/day. Cattle milk collected
was increased and it was estimated by 3 tons in 2013
collected from three large farms (Figure 5).
There was also a dynamic trend for price. Figure
6 showed the relations between the purchasing and
selling price per buffalo, cow fresh milk and
skimmed milk. Buffalo milk recorded higher prices
for selling and purchasing than cow and skimmed
milk.
The high return% was achieved through skimmed
milk enterprise. Cattle and buffalo milk enterprise
achieved low return% (Figure 7). Moreover, the
overall return trend of skimmed milk was going up
while the trend of buffalo and cattle fresh milk was
going down (Figure 7).
We can note the rapid change in skimmed milk
collection by MCC at level of number of farmers,
number of MCPs and quantity of skimmed milk
(Table 4).
Figure (8) showed that many villages were added
in 2015 which located south of MCC compared to
2013. Also, the cycle size reflects the increase of
milk collection capacity in different villages through
studied two years.
Moreover, in 2013 there was only one village
collected more than 10,000 liters/week but in 2015
there were 3 villages collected more than 10,000
liters/week (as overall mean for three seasons).
The trend of both local skimmed milk price and
international powder milk price was showed in
Figure 9.
Figure 5. The evolution of collecting milk (buffalo, cattle and skimmed milk) by the milk collection center
(MCC) in El-Reka village from 1994 to 2015.

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Figure 6. Development of MCC prices of purchasing and selling (LE) for buffalo, cattle fresh milk and
skimmed milk during the period from 1994 to 2015
Figure 7. The percentage of return of MCC per invested currency unit (return %) for buffalo, cattle and
skimmed milk during the period from 1994 to 2015

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Figure 8. The location of villages that milk collection points (MCPs) deal with milk collection center
(MCC) and the quantity of milk collected through three seasons in year 2013 and 2015.
Figure 9. The change of the international price of skimmed milk powder (equivalent to liquid) and
skimmed milk price for outlets linked with milk collection center (MCC) from 2010 to 2015.
SWOT analysis:
The main strengths of the studied MCC was the
development of the skimmed milk chain and its
capacity to increase and diversity of the actors at the
sourcing (farmers and villages) and at the top (small,
medium and large outlets). Social network played an
important role in this chain. Also, this enterprise
created one new job for each 45-55 liters. This means
that this enterprise employed around 400 persons
(MCC owners, labors, transporters and MCP
owners).
The main weaknesses of this chain was the poor
milk profitability at the farm level, and this was
mainly due to the high cost of feedstuffs (concentrate
feed mixture, corn and wheat bran) and the
increasing cost of renting lands with limiting access.
Also, poor genetic merit of animals, high costs of
veterinary service and shortage of extension service
were also observed during this study. Furthermore,
the seasonality of milk production, as in many places
over the world, remains a major constraint for the
market. The percentage of sold milk over the

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production was higher in spring (95.3 %) than
summer (89.0 %) and winter (78.9 %) (Radwan et
al., 2016).
Another difficult problem was the total bacterial
counts (TBC). Buffalo milk at farm level recorded
the lowest TBC through the three seasons compared
to skimmed milk. Also, winter season recorded the
lowest TBC compared with spring and summer
seasons (Figure 10). Moreover, absence of written
contracts between actors along the chain could cause
unbalanced revenues or unfair pricing system, where
no contracts between farmers and MCC, MCPs and
MCC and outlets (in most cases they respect this kind
of oral contracts). Also, the big manufactures had the
upper hand on this chain. Also, no fair pricing system
was developed along the chain.
Figure 10. Total bacterial count (TBC, log10) at farmer (buffalo milk), villages milk collection points
(MCPs) (skimmed milk), and milk collection center (MCC) (skimmed milk tanks) through winter, spring
and summer seasons.
SWOT analysis summarized the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats of skimmed
milk chain as following:
Strengths
 Milk is the main source of income for
farmers in studied villages.
 High dynamic chain in terms of quantity of
milk, milk price and no. of suppliers and
outlets
 High demand of skimmed milk
 Most links between actors in this chain
based on social network.
 Skimmed milk offered with cheaper price
 Created a lot of jobs (46-55liters created
one job)
 MCC can link buffalo smallholders with
large plants.
 Regular quality control check by MCC.
 Provided regular income for all actors.
 Increased the demand of traditional cheese.
 Most cheese production in cold season
Weakness
 Increased the price of feedstuff and CFM.
 Lack of public veterinary services.
 Absence of livestock extension services.
 Limited cultivated lands.
 High cost of land rent.
 Low price of skimmed powder milk affecting
the revenues along the chain.
 Increased TBC of skimmed milk especially in
warm season.
 No contracts along the chain between actors.
 No fair pricing system especially for farmers.

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Opportunities
 Establish cooperatives that help farmers
and provide them with reasonable price
inputs and services (Ortmann, and King,
2007).
 There is a room for quality control (Figure
10).
 Ability of different actors along the chain
to update chain standards (Chain Flexibility
to set new standards).
 Many services can be introduced through
the strong social network.
Threats
 Unexpected feedstuffs prices fluctuation
 Uncertainty of urbanization level at rural areas
led to decrease cultivated land limited access of
land
 Increase cost of rented land
 Allow the importation of dairy products
without protection for national products
 Increasing costs of services introduced to
farmers in terms of veterinary and extension
services.
 Continuing decline in the international price of
skimmed milk powder.
 Increase the level of quality standards of
consumers for milk and milk products.
CFM; concentrate feed mixture
DISCUSSION
Skimmed milk value chain:
There was a question why farmers preferred to
sell skimmed milk than to sell whole milk or to
process it. Figure (3) showed clearly the economic
returns compared with the selling of cheese and
butter that require more women efforts in processing
with high risk for processing and marketing cheese.
Indeed there is no regular demand in the local market
for the milk products with an unexplained
technological failing in traditional milk processing
especially in summer. Moreover, the skimmed milk
grown faster than buffalo or cattle milk for many
other reasons: 1) higher return% of skimmed milk
compared to cattle and buffalo milk as showed in
Figure (7) in other words skimmed milk was more
profitable for traders; 2) DPUs considered skimmed
milk cheaper than cattle and buffalo milk (Figure 6);
and 3) Karish cheese with low fat and Feta cheese
with added vegetable oils was cheaper for the local
and city markets, where most consumers are more
interested by lower price than higher quality.
Moreover, the analysis of maps in Figure 4 and 8
indicated that south of Greater Cairo became an
important source of skimmed milk to feed the DPUs
concentrated in greater Cairo with the highest
demand of dairy products in Egypt. There are two
reasons that could explain this dynamic: 1) the
villages in South Giza (or north Beni Suef) are far
from the main fresh milk markets; so, farmers prefer
to skim milk and to produce butter and cheese with
more shelf life compared to fresh milk and 2) some
rural farmers have always a custom, that prevent to
sell milk as fresh, which considered a sign of poverty
in south of Egypt.
However, the price of skimmed milk is also
affected by the demand, especially from large plants
which receive more than 50% of MCC milk. This
demand varies with the international skimmed milk
powder price that influences the national price of
skimmed milk (Figure 9). The quantity of skimmed
milk sold by MCC increased when the international
price increased. Therefore, skimmed milk price sold
by MCC in 2015compared to 2013was decreased
which might due to the international price decrease
(Figure 9). However, the demand of cheese is also
linked with the population growth. Consequently, the
price depends on three main factors: the price of
karish cheese (as an internal factor), the price of
international powder milk (as an external factor) and
the processing units demand which is directly related
to the availability of milk in the market and its
alternatives, mainly powder skimmed milk. The price
of skimmed milk could affect the price of Karish
cheese in village market due to the demand of
skimmed milk. So, the external factors like skimmed
milk alternatives price for cheese processing units
affect indirectly the revenues of farmers and other
related activities through its effect on the skimmed
milk purchasing price of CPUs. Farmers are
generally searching for the best price and the lowest
risk. So the price offered by the MCC is a major
factor for milk marketing at farm level. Generally,
the owner of the MCC adjusts the price of skimmed
milk according to the price of Karish cheese in
village local market.
Milk quality and safety:
Total bacterial count (TBC) is an indicator for
milk handling (Deepika et al., 2015). The TBC
increases in the hot season compared to cold season.
These results were agreed with the findings of
Hashmi and Saleem, (2015) (Figure 10). Whole milk
contained lower TBC compared to skimmed milk
collected from MCPs for each village due mainly to
the absence of cooling system, the time of skimming
which takes up to three hours (which lead to high
multiplication of microorganisms in skimmed milk)
and the time of milk collection from all MCPs for
each village. Most processors consider cold season as
the best period for producing high quality cheese

Abdelghany et al.
122
which match with the bacterial count in winter milk
as shown in Figure (10). Establish a proper method to
identify microbial contents in food chain is necessary
in Egypt (Montet et al., 2015).
Finally, it is observed that MCC, MCPs, and
DPUs depend mainly on relatives in running the
enterprises. Also, dealing with neighbors and local
community build trust to guarantee the daily milk
supply and milk quality. In this chain, the MCC tried
to check regularly the quality and it discusses with
MCPs for improving the quality of collected milk.
All farmers could produce at least two types of dairy
products (cheese and butter) through accumulated
knowledge from one generation to another. In
addition, DPUs produce many types of cheeses. The
technical skills used to process the cheese was
obtained from the work in large processing units or
transmitted from family members.
Recommendations related to SWOT:
Many recommendations could be proposed for
enhancing the skimmed milk chain. Firstly, at the
farm level, many improvements can be done
regarding the supply of good quality of feedstuff and
CFM with reasonable price, the access to highly
producing buffaloes with high genetic merits and
helping farmers through training to use milk replacer
for calves and applying artificial feeding to save
milk. Moreover, there are a demand of training for
farmers and MCP owners to produce clean milk and
setting pricing system based on quality. Also, loans
are required for MCPs to support cooling systems.
Furthermore, Ministry of Agriculture, cooperatives
and private sectors linked with Research Institutes
and Universities and chain stakeholders could
provide new skills, green technologies and
knowledge about milk handling and processing.
Moreover, this link can provide up-dated information
about the weakness and opportunities and then this
will help to develop more applicable research plans.
As in other regions or countries, MCC can play a
crucial role to connect the small farmers to
processors and provide a lot of job opportunities
(Demirbas et al., 2009). Moreover, MCC can use and
build social relationships as a tool to extend, and to
secure the enterprise. So, the El-Reka MCC as a
private unit highlights a new model that can be used
as a tool to improve the dairy sector, in particular in
the whole traditional dairy sector. The social network
in this chain needs to be deeply studied to understand
the social mechanisms and how useful of these social
networks at national level and in other countries that
had similar production system and dairy sector.
CONCLUSIONS
In Egypt, majority of farmers consider dairy
animals as the main source of regular income.
Skimmed milk was highly demanded by dairy
processing units. Price of skimmed milk is a major
factor that affects the farmer's revenues and this price
depends on the price of powder skimmed milk in the
international market and the cheese mill strategies.
MCC could play a vital role in rural communities in
terms of local development by allowing a good
valorization of milk and in setting new quality
standards. Governmental and non-governmental
activities could propose new policies to protect the
traditional actors along the chain. Specific dairy
quality control programs should be developed along
the chain. Producers were more affected by internal
or external factors than intermediates. So, dairy
sector instructions and rules should be reviewed to
make balance along the chain and to set fair pricing
system and grantee food safety for all consumers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express their thanks to
Mamdoh family for providing data and facilitating all
visits along the chain. This study has been conducted
within the project DAIRY funded by AIRD, France.
The authors would like to thank all the French
(CIRAD and INRA) and Egyptian (APRI, Cairo and
Ain Shams University) colleagues, who have
contributed to this study.
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ىﺮﺒﻜﻟا ةﺮھﺎﻘﻟا لﻮﺣ ﺔﯾﺪﯿﻠﻘﺘﻟا زﺮﻔﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟا جﺎﺘﻧإ ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺴﻟ تاﺪﯾﺪﮭﺘﻟاو صﺮﻔﻟا ،ﻒﻌﻀﻟا ،ةﻮﻘﻟا ﻦطاﻮﻣ ﻞﯿﻠﺤﺗ
ﷲ ﺎﻄﻋ ﺔﺒﻠط ﻰﻨﻐﻟاﺪﺒﻋ ﻒﯾﺮﺷ
١
ﮫﯿﻧرﻮﻛ نﺎﯿﺘﺳﺮﻛ ،
٢
ىرﻻا ﻚﯿﻧوﺮﯿﻓ ،
٣
ناﻮﺿر ﻰﻠﻋ ﺪﻤﺤﻣ ،
١
يﺮﯿﺸﻌﻟا لﺎﻤﻛ لﺎﻣآ ،
١
١- ،ع.م.ج ،ةﺰﯿﺟ ،ةﺮھﺎﻘﻟا ﺔﻌﻣﺎﺟ ،ﺔﻋارﺰﻟا ﺔﯿﻠﻛ ،ﻰﻧاﻮﯿﺤﻟا جﺎﺘﻧﻻا ﻢﺴﻗ٢- ،ﮫﯿﯿﻠﺒﻧﻮﻣ ،داﺮﯿﺳ ﺪﮭﻌﻣ . ،ﺎﺴﻧﺮﻓ٣- ،طﺎﺑﺮﻟا ،ادرﺎﻜﯾﻻا / داﺮﯿﺳ
بﺮﻐﻤﻟا
ﻞﯿﻠﺤﺗ ﻰﻟا ﺔﺳارﺪﻟا فﺪﮭﺗ ﺮطﺎﺨﻤﻟاو صﺮﻔﻟاو ﻒﻌﻀﻟاو ةﻮﻘﻟا طﺎﻘﻧSWOT).ىﺮﺒﻜﻟا ةﺮھﺎﻘﻟا لﻮﺣ ﺔﯾﺪﯿﻠﻘﺘﻟا زﺮﻔﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟا جﺎﺘﻧإ ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺴﻟ ( ﺖﯾﺮﺟأ
ﻞﯿﻠﺤﺗ ءاﺮﺟأ ﻢﺗ .ﻒﯾﻮﺳ ﻰﻨﺑ ﺔﻈﻓﺎﺤﻣ دوﺪﺣ ﻰﻠﻋ ﻊﻘﺗ ﻰﺘﻟا ةﺰﯿﺠﻟا بﻮﻨﺟ ىﺮﻗ ىﺪﺣأ ﻰﻓ ﺔﺳارﺪﻟا هﺬھ SWOT ﺲﯾﺎﻘﻤﻟا ﺾﻌﺑ لوﺎﻨﺗ ﻚﻟذ ﻲﻓ ﺎﻤﺑ
ﺔﺻﺎﺨﻟا جﺎﺘﻧﻹا ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺳ ﻞﯿﻠﺤﺗو ﺔﯾﺬﻏﻷا ﺔﻣﻼﺴﺑ .عﺎﻄﻘﻟا اﺬھ ﮫﺟاﻮﺗ ﻰﺘﻟا ﻞﻛﺎﺸﻤﻟاو ﺎﯾاﺰﻤﻟا ﻢھأ ﺪﯾﺪﺤﺘﻟ ﻦﺒﻠﻟا تﺎﻨﯿﻋ ﺬﺧأ و تﺎﻧﺎﯿﺒﻟا ﻊﻤﺟ ﻢﺗ لﻼﺧ ﻦﻣ
:ﻢھو ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺴﻟا ﻰﻓ ﺔﺴﯿﺋﺮﻟا ﺮﺻﺎﻨﻌﻟا نا ﻰﻟا ﺞﺋﺎﺘﻨﻟا ﺖﺤﺿوا .ﺔﯿﺼﺨﺸﻟا تﻼﺑﺎﻘﻤﻟاو ،ﺔﻤﻈﺘﻨﻤﻟا ﺔﯿﻠﻘﺤﻟا تارﺎﯾﺰﻟا ﻊﯿﻤﺠﺗ طﺎﻘﻧ بﺎﺤﺻاو ،ﻦﯿﺣﻼﻔﻟا
ﺔﺳارﺪﻟا ﺖﺤﺿوأ .نﺎﺒﻟﻷا ﻊﯿﻨﺼﺗ تاﺪﺣو بﺎﺤﺻاو ،ﻦﺒﻠﻟا ﻊﯿﻤﺠﺗ ﺰﻛﺮﻣ بﺎﺤﺻاو ،ﻦﺒﻠﻟا فﻼﻋﻷا تﺎﻧﻮﻜﻣ رﺎﻌﺳأ عﺎﻔﺗرإ ﻞﺜﻣ ىﺮﺧأ ﻒﻌﺿ طﺎﻘﻧ
ﺬھ ﻰﻓ ﺪﯾاﺰﺘﻣ كاﺮﺣ كﺎﻨھ نا ﺔﺳارﺪﻟا ﺖﺤﺿوا .ﺔﻋرﺰﻤﻟا ىﻮﺘﺴﻣ ﻰﻠﻋ نﺎﻌﻄﻘﻟا و ةدﻮﺠﻟا ةﺮﻟدأ ﺚﯿﺣ ﻦﻣ ﺔﻣﺎﻌﻟا تﺎﻣﺪﺨﻟا ﺮﻓﻮﺗ مﺪﻋو ،قاﻮﺳﻷا ﻲﻓ ا
ﺔﯿﻋﺎﻤﺘﺟﻹا تﺎﻗﻼﻌﻟا ﺔﻜﺒﺷ نﺈﻓ ﻚﻟذ ﻊﻣو .ﻦﺒﻠﻟا ﺮﻌﺳو ﺎﮭﻌﯿﻤﺠﺗ ﻢﺘﯾ ﻰﺘﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟا ﺔﯿﻤﻛ ﺚﯿﺣ ﻦﻣ ﻊﯿﻤﺠﺘﻟا طﺎﻘﻧ ﻰﻓ صﺎﺧ ﻞﻜﺸﺑو ىﺪﯿﻠﻘﺘﻟا عﺎﻄﻘﻟا ﻤﯾ ﻦﻜ
ا ﺔﯿﻤﻨﺘﻟا ﺔﻄﺸﻧأ تﺎﯾﻮﻟوأ ﺪﯾﺪﺤﺗ ﻰﻓ ﻦﯿﯾﻮﻤﻨﺘﻟاو راﺮﻘﻟا ىﺬﺨﺘﻣ ﺪﻋﺎﺴﺗ نأ ﻦﻜﻤﯾ ﻰﺘﻟاو ﺔﻧﺮﻣو ﺔﻟﺎﻌﻓ تﺎﻣﺪﺧ ﻢﯾﺪﻘﺗو ﺮﯾﻮﻄﺗ ﻲﻓ ﺎﮭﻨﻣ ةدﺎﻔﺘﺳﻻا ﺔﻣاﺪﺘﺴﻤﻟ
ﺔﻄﺸﻧﻷا ﻦﻣ ﻮھ زﺮﻔﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟا لواﺪﺗ نأ ﺔﺳارﺪﻟا ﺖﺤﺿوأ .ﺮﺼﻣ ﻲﻓ نﺎﺒﻟﻷا تﺎﺠﺘﻨﻣ ﻰﻠﻋ ﺐﻠﻄﻟا ةدﺎﯾزو ﺔﯿﻤﻟﺎﻌﻟا ﺔﻋارﺰﻟا ﺞﻣاﺮﺒﺑ ﺎﮭﻄﺑرو ًاﻮﻤﻧ ﺮﺜﻛﻻا
ﻟا تارﺎﺷأ ءاﻮﺳ ةدﻮﺠﻟا تﺎﺒﻠﻄﺘﻤﻟ ﺔﺑﺎﺠﺘﺳﻼﻟ ﺎﮭﺘﯿﻠﺑﺎﻗ زﺮﻔﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟا جﺎﺘﻧإ ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺳ تﺮﮭظا .ﻞﻣﺎﻜﻟا ﻦﺒﻠﻟﺎﺑ ﺔﻧرﺎﻘﻣ ﻦﯿﻋراﺰﻤﻟا رﺎﻐﺼﻟ ﺔﯿﺑذﺎﺟو قﻮﺴ
ﺪﯿﻔﺘﺴﻤﻠﻟ ﺔﻣزﻼﻟا ﺔﯾﺎﻤﺤﻟا ﺮﻓﻮﺗ نا ﺔﯿﻠھﻻا تﺎﯿﻌﻤﺠﻟاو ﺔﯿﻣﻮﻜﺤﻟا ﺔﻄﺸﻧﻼﻟ ﻦﻜﻤﯾ .نﺎﺒﻟﻻا ﻊﯿﻨﺼﺗ تاﺪﺣﻮﻟ ﺔﯿﺳﺎﯿﻘﻟا ﺮﯾﺎﻌﻤﻟاوأ ﺔﺴﻠﺴﻟا لﻮط ﻰﻠﻋ ﻦﯾ
اﻹا ﺔﺴﻠﺴﻟا لﻮط ﻰﻠﻋ نﺎﺒﻟﻷا ةدﻮﺟ ﺔﺒﻗاﺮﻣ ﻰﻓ ﺔﺼﺼﺨﺘﻣ ﺞﻣاﺮﺑ ﺮﯾﻮﻄﺗ ﺐﺠﯾ .ىﺪﯿﻠﻘﺘﻟا عﺎﻄﻘﻟا اﺬﮭﻟ ﺔﯿﺟﺎﺘﻧﻹ ﺐﺠﯾ ﻚﻟﺬﻟ .ﺔﯿﺟﺎﺘﻧإ ﺔﻌﺟاﺮﻣ ةدﺎﻋ
ا ﺔﻠﺴﻠﺴﻟا لﻮط ﻰﻠﻋ لدﺎﻋ ﺮﯿﻌﺴﺗ مﺎﻈﻧ ﺮﯿﻓﻮﺗو نزاﻮﺗ ثاﺪﺣأ ﻰﻨﺴﺘﯾ ﻰﺘﺣ نﺎﺒﻟﻷا عﺎﻄﻘﺑ ﺔﺻﺎﺨﻟا ﻦﯿﻧاﻮﻘﻟاو ﺪﻋاﻮﻘﻟاﻹو ﺔﯿﺟﺎﺘﻧ ﺔﻣﻼﺳ نﺎﻤﺿ ﻚﻟﺬﻛ
.نﺪﻤﻟاو ىﺮﻘﻟا ﻰﻓ ﻦﯿﻜﻠﮭﺘﺴﻤﻠﻟ ءاﺬﻐﻟا