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- Nyokabi, Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Milk quality and hygiene : Knowledge, attitudes and practices of smallholder dairy farmers in central Kenya
- 2021
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Ingår i: Food Control. - : Elsevier. - 0956-7135 .- 1873-7129. ; 130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Milk production is an important livelihood source for smallholder dairy farmers in low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Kenya. However, milk quality and safety are a challenge due to unhygienic handling and non-adherence to food safety standards. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and adoption of milk quality and food safety practices by smallholder farmers in Kenya. Ten Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), involving 71 smallholder farmers, were held to collect qualitative data on knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) of smallholder dairy farmers in Laikipia, Nakuru, and Nyandarua counties. Additionally, data were collected through a cross-sectional administered to 652 smallholder farming households. The results of the study revealed low knowledge level and negative attitudes towards respecting antibiotics treatment withdrawal periods, milk quality standards and food safety regulations. Farmers stated they had received low levels of training on milk quality and safety standards. The majority of farmers adopted animal health measures and hygienic measures such as hand washing and udder cleaning. However, unhygienic milking environments, the use of plastic containers, the use of untreated water, and lack of teat dipping compromised milk quality and safety. Currently, milk production, handling and consumption could expose actors along the dairy value chain to health risks. The adoption of milk quality and food safety practices was influenced by farmers' knowledge, socioeconomic characteristics, and choice of marketing channel. There is a need to improve farmers' knowledge and attitudes and implement hygienic control, disease control and antibiotic residue control practices in the milk production process to meet required milk quality and food safety standards. Awareness campaigns and training programmes for smallholder dairy farmers could foster behavioural change and lead to an improvement in milk quality in Kenya.
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| 2. |
- Nyokabi, Simon N., et al.
(författare)
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Milk quality along dairy farming systems and associated value chains in Kenya : An analysis of composition, contamination and adulteration
- 2021
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Ingår i: Food Control. - : Elsevier. - 0956-7135 .- 1873-7129. ; 119
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Poor milk safety constitutes a persistent public health risk in Kenya. Poor milk composition, microbial contamination and adulteration is a constraint to dairy sector development. We hypothesise that variation in milk quality and safety depends on variation between farming systems. We argue that this variation between farming systems is associated with spatial location which affects the agro-ecological conditions and the avail-ability of labour and land. We used a spatial framework based on the distance to urban markets to distinguish the following farming systems: relatively intensive dairy systems in urban locations (UL), semi-intensive dairy systems in mid-rural locations (MRL) and extensive dairy systems in extreme rural locations (ERL). We aimed to investigate the variation in the quality of raw milk in these dairy farming systems and associated value chains in central Kenya. For this reason, we combined several methods such as participatory rural appraisal, participant observation, and milk physicochemical and microbiological analyses to collect data. Milk samples were collected at the informal and informal value chain nodes farms, informal collection centres, informal retailing centres including milk vending machines, and formal bulking centres where milk changes hands between value chain actors. Milk quality was compared to standards recommended by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KeBS). There were no differences in the quality of raw milk between locations or between nodes. The overall milk physicochemical composition means (standard error) of the milk were within KeBS standards: fat 3.61 (0.05), protein 3.46 (0.06), solid-not fats 9.18 (0.04), density 1.031 (0.0002) and freezing point-0.597 (0.019). The protein percentage was below KeBS standards at all value chain nodes, except at the formal bulking node. There was significant contamination of milk samples: 16.7% of samples had added water, 8.8% had somatic cell count SCC above 300,000, 42.4% had E. coli, 47.9% had Pseudomonas spp., 3.3% had Staphylococcus spp. and 2.9% tested positive for brucellosis antibodies. Unsanitary milk handling practices were observed at farms and all value chains nodes. Milk physicochemical composition except for protein content meets the KeBS Standard. High levels of microbial contamination of milk pose a public health risk to consumers and show that urgent action is needed to improve milk quality.
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