استهلاك منتجات الألبان من إنتاج المزرعة والأمن الغذائي للأسرة الريفية[Home consumption of farm produced Dairy products and Food security]

The study used the data of the household budget survey conducted by CAPMAS for the year 2014, to recognize the objective of this study. It was to specify the consumption pattern of milk and dairy products of the Egyptian rural household and to identify the socio-economic factors affecting this consumption pattern. The major results showed that the household with the small farm holding (less than 5 feddans) has a rational economic policy with concern of such vital food items, particularly for nutritionally vulnerable groups of the population. Such category of households represents 92% of the farm holders in Egypt. The identified econometric model for dairy products consumption showed that the household increases its homeproduced milk and dairy products as the market price of these food items surpasses the costs of production per 1-kg of home produced milk. Such policy decision empowers the household to face the price inflation by increasing self-reliance in the consumption. Of such vital food commodities. However, the households within the rural community decrease the share of home produced milk and dairy products as household income increases. At higher income level the household replace home produced and home processed dairy products for a wide variety of such products purchased from the market. Even though, the dairy products consumption of upper Egypt rural community and border governorates citizens is still affected by the traditions and local community cultures. While the upper Egypt community preference considers milk is children rather than men food, the border governorates prefer sheep and goats dairy products.