SURVEY OF CHEESE PRODUCERS IN OYO TOWN, OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Cheese production in Oyo town is presently at a subsistence level and the producers are not well organized and employ mostly the traditional method of production of the snack. This study was aimed at collecting vital statistics that may help attract the attention of the concerned authorities to cheese producers, not only in Oyo town, but in Oyo state in general. Snowball sampling of the producers were employed and a total of twenty cheese producers were reached with interview schedule covering vital aspects like their bio data and cheese production activities. The results obtained show that all the respondents were female traders. Also, majority of them (75%) were within the age range of 20-39 years and married. All the respondents sourced their milk from cow while 45% and 35% of them used 20-29litres and 30-39litres of milk for production during the rainy and dry seasons respectively. Lack of capital to expand the business (40%) and inappropriate pricing of the product (25%) were major problems faced by the respondents. The study also revealed that all the respondents agreed that cheese production is profitable with majority of the making a profit ranging from 100-1000 naira and 1,100- 2000 naira during the dry and rainy seasons, respectively.