The farmers' perception of the importance of milk quality and safety in relation to their dairy practices was also investigated. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted to explore farmers' perceptions of milk quality and safety, and transect walks were made to observe the dairy environment. However, some of the IKS-based practices were in line with recommended modern agricultural practices.
The microbiological quality and safety of the milk was assessed by analyzing the total number of plaque and coliform milk samples collected from 19 farmers. The questionnaires revealed that the hygiene practices of the farmers were fully in line with the recommended modern scientific practices, although there were few exceptions. This will have a negative impact on the quality and safety of the milk and ultimately the food and nutrition security of households.
Support must be provided to these farmers; one critical and essential area of support is capacity building by training rural dairy farmers to integrate IKS with modern science in their practices to improve milk quality and safety.
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING
- INTRODUCTION
- PROBLEM STATEMENT
- OVERALL AIM
- STUDY SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- STUDY PARAMETERS
- ASSUMPTIONS
- DEFINITIONS
- ABBREVIATIONS
- SUMMARY
Awareness of the health and economic consequences of milk contamination is an important motivating factor for most of the farmers to comply with the recommended handling and hygiene practices (Mosalagae et al. 2011). Furthermore, the safety of the milk produced by the smallholder dairy farmers has not been studied in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to determine the milk handling and hygiene practices of smallholder dairy farmers of the Matatiele Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and thereby determine the potential impact of these practices on milk quality and safety. On the other hand, the majority of rural smallholder dairy farmers are resource poor and as such are highly likely to adopt affordable IKS-based practices of milk handling and hygiene. The assumed IKS-based practices will probably not be efficient enough to limit microbial contamination of the milk to acceptable levels, especially as determined by formal markets.
To investigate the milk utilization patterns; and evaluate milk handling and hygiene practices of smallholder dairy farmers of the Matatiele Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, thereby determining the potential impact of these practices on milk quality and safety. The limitations in the collection of milk samples prevented the collection of the samples in both the hot and cold seasons. However, smallholder dairy farmers are challenged by the limited resources available to them, which reduces the ability of the farmers to meet the milk quality and safety standards required for the commercial formal markets.
Smallholder milk processing in Zimbabwe: hygienic practices during milking and microbiological quality of milk on farm and during delivery.
LITERATURE REVIEW
- INTRODUCTION
- MILK CONSUMPTION TRENDS
- SMALLHOLDER DAIRY FARMING POTENTIAL IN ADDRESSING FOOD AND
- MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF MILK
- The prevalence of food-borne illnesses
- Microbial quality of milk and milk products
- KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF HYGIENE
- Handling practices of milk products
- Implications of milk and milk products contamination
- SUMMARY
India has become one of the largest milk producers due to small-scale dairy systems implemented in the country (Sraïri et al. 2011). In Zimbabwe, the small-scale dairy program has increased national milk production by 5%, and this has significantly expanded the country's milk production base (Mhone et al. 2011). It is reported that rural people prefer home-made milk (Lues et al. 2012;
The majority of the small farmers use the milk they produce for household consumption and sell to their neighbors (Mapekula et al. 2009). Smallholder dairy farming is also an income-generating activity for the farmers' households (Mapekula et al. 2009). Milk and milk products are of great importance in the context of food safety due to the composition of milk (Altalhi & Hassan 2009; Dermibaş et al. 2009).
Furthermore, DNA sequencing can be performed for the identification of specific bacteria (Anderson et al. 2011).
STUDY DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
- INTRODUCTION
- DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA
- STUDY DESIGN
- STUDY POPULATION AND SAMPLE SELECTION
- FIELDWORKER RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
- DATA COLLECTION
- DATA CAPTURING, PROCESSING AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
- RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF DATA
- REDUCTION OF BIAS
- ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Dairying is the main activity in Matatiele and Maluti; there are many small farmers who produce milk. This was reinforced by the Heifer Project, which donated pregnant heifers to residents of both cities (IDP 2013). Qualitative methods included focus group discussions and transect walks, while quantitative methods took the form of a quantitative survey, including laboratory analysis of milk samples.
The most important inclusion criterion was the willingness of small farmers and/or emerging farmers to participate in the study and that they actively produce milk. Within the purposive sample of farmers, simple random sampling was used to select 150 small farmers who participated in the study. A focus group discussion guide was developed in English and then translated into the local languages of the study area.
The transect walks included an observation of the milking process - milk handling and hygiene practices were documented using a pre-compiled checklist (Appendix C). Samples of the raw fresh milk were aseptically collected from the farms of the sampled farmers, in cool conditions (≤4ᴼ C), transported to the University of KwaZulu-Natal where microbial analysis was carried out. The data was captured in the SPSS system and the system was used for analysis.
To assess the effect of hygiene and safety practices based on indigenous knowledge systems on milk quality and safety in terms of exposure to contamination risk and established guidelines to manage safety and. The questionnaire was pre-tested to assess whether farmers understood its questions and to eliminate question ambiguities. Bias was reduced in the study by not informing participants of the exact day on which transect walks would be conducted on their farms to increase the probability that the events observed were similar to daily practices.
This chapter described and explained the research design and the methodology employed in the current study. The research is divided into two studies, which are reported in two separate research chapters, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.
MILK UTILISATION PATTERNS AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
- ABSTRACT
- INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
- METHODOLOGY
- Study area
- Study design and data collection
- Data analysis
- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
- Demographic data
- Milk Utilisation
- Animal husbandry and milking practices
- Cleaning of the milking environment
- Cow hygiene
- Influence of modernisation on IKS
- Recognising Indigenous Knowledge Systems into development and policies
- CONCLUSION
Poor milk handling and hygiene practices increase the likelihood of contamination of the milk with microorganisms (Cerva et al. 33 Figure 4.1: The conceptual framework for the dairy farming activities that affect the food and nutrition security potential in small farms with milk production. Focus group discussions were conducted, among other things, to assess the small dairy farmers' and their households' perception of milking hygiene and practices.
Consequently, the majority of respondents were unemployed (68%) and dependent solely on agriculture for their livelihood. The majority of participants consumed the milk they produced, as shown in Table 4.2 below. The farmers who attended the formal training felt that the information shared during the training was similar to the indigenous knowledge they used.
39 of the trained smallholder farmers had drainage systems, compared to the farmers using indigenous knowledge. 69 percent of farmers trimmed the hairs on the cow, and 31% did not. The farmers also stated that their original way of life continues to be lost due to the disinterest of the younger generation.
Most of the farmers were older, only 13.6% of the small farmers producing milk were under 45 years of age. The younger generation's lack of interest in the indigenous knowledge system is a major factor in the loss of traditional systems. Understanding indigenous knowledge systems could enable interventions to complement and enhance the development project.
Milk was well used as a staple food by a majority of farmers and their households. However, this can be attributed to the fact that a majority of the educated farmers use this knowledge at the same time as indigenous knowledge.
ASSESSING THE MILK HANDLING AND HYGIENE PRACTICES OF
- ABSTRACT
- INTRODUCTION
- METHODOLOGY
- Study area
- Methodology
- Data Analysis
- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
- Demographic data
- Hygiene and handling practices of smallholder dairy farmers in Matatiele
- Awareness and perceptions of smallholder dairy farmers of milk safety
- Microbiological quality and safety of milk
- CONCLUSION
Knowledge of milk handling and hygiene practices can be useful in helping farmers to improve milk quality and safety and thus increase their access to the formal commercial dairy markets. Agricultural production is the most important economic activity in the area, with a majority of the population unemployed (75.3%) (GOP 2013). The total microbial load of the milk samples was estimated by determining total plate counts (TPC) using the spread plate method.
Most of the participants were unemployed (68%), with Secondary (45.3%) and Primary (34%) as the highest level of education. The majority (69.3%) of the participant had good knowledge of good hygiene practices as seen in Table 2 below. The majority of the farmers were aware of the risks associated with the practices mentioned below in Table 5.3.
Only 38% of the participants used a cloth to cover the milking container during milking to avoid contamination by foreign substances. Milk was predominantly discarded when blood or clots were present, and this carried a high risk of contamination and disease because the majority of participants preferred raw milk. Majority of the farmers admitted that cow dung contaminated the milk and it was screened out without pasteurization thereafter.
The majority of participants in this study were aware of the risk of consuming contaminated milk. The majority of samples exceeded the legal minimum standard for Total Plate counts (TPC) for raw milk as shown in Table 5.4 below. The poor microbial quality of milk can be attributed to the faecal and environmental contamination of milk, which was reported by the majority of participants, as well as the poor storage of milk, as reported in Chapter 4.
The majority of the samples had high coliform counts and this may be the result of the high reported rate of contamination of milk by soil, dust and faeces. The TPCs and coliform counts of the milk samples exceeded the legal standards of raw milk and this would prevent them from entering the formal dairy market.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
68 The findings of the study showed that the milk produced by the small dairy farmers was of poor quality. Most farmers produced milk with a total bacterial count above 5 x 10 4 and a coliform count of 10 cfu/ml; exceeding the minimum legal value of bacteria in raw milk. Overall, this study shows that there is some potential to improve the quality of milk produced by smallholder farmers in this rural community, as some farmers from the same setting have achieved.
Improving awareness about the safety and quality of milk and the possible contaminants of milk would positively impact the quality of milk produced by farmers in this rural community.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Are they milking a cow diagnosed with mastitis or some teat and udder infection?
