SMALLHOLDER DAIRY PRODUCTION CHARACTERISTICS, MICROBIAL QUALITY AND SAFETY OF RAW AND FERMENTED MILK, AND BUTTER ACROSS THE VALUE CHAIN IN ADDIS ABEBA AND ASELLA MILK SHED

Abstract

his study was designed to assess smallholder butter value chain and to evaluate microbial qualities and hygienic practices of handling raw milk, fermented milk (Irgo) and butter in eight selected dairy potential areas of the Ethiopian central highlands. A total of 448 respondents comprising 320 smallholder farmers, 80 open market butter traders, 40 dairy product shops and 8 primary dairy cooperatives were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. From a subset of the surveyed respondents, a total of 320 product samples (80 milk, 80 Irgo and 160 butter) were collected for microbial quality analysis. Crossbred milking cows were dominant among the herd producing on average 10 liters of milk/day and contributing to about 89% of the butter production in the study areas. Dairy contributed about 43% to smallholder farmers’ household income; however, its contribution varied among the study areas. Breed, feed and animal health services were the most common inputs for milk and butter production. The major feed resources available in the study areas were grazing land (62%), grass hay (94%) and crop residues (barely straw 57%, wheat straw 53%, and teff straw 23%). Artificial insemination and use of crossbred breeding bulls mainly shared by neighbors were the two common methods of dairy cattle breeding. The average artificial insemination and bull service charges were 30 and 81 Ethiopian birr per service, respectively. Farmers do not keep farm records except 24% of the sample respondents that hold limited information on breeding dates and daily milk sales using inappropriate sheet. All the respondents had separate barn for dairy herds of which 8% reported to use bedding material to ensure cows comfort. Although the majority (73%) of the sample respondents had access to animal health services, 47% of them reported high veterinary costs, and shortage of veterinary clinics and veterinarians. Mastitis (66%), black leg (18%) and foot and mouth disease (9.7%) were the major dairy cattle diseases in the study areas. The average annual estimated value of milk discarded from infected udders and costs of medication to treat various diseases were 1,977 Ethiopian birr per household. Women were highly engaged in milking, butter making and marketing. About 88% of the respondents converted milk into butter but only 40% of them produced butter for sale. Smallholder farmers reported to obtain 0.6 kg of butter within 96 minutes of churning from an average of 9 liters of milk accumulated/fermented over 3 days. Clay pot was the most common churning equipment used in the study areas. The average butter consumed per household is estimated to be 0.5 and 0.75 kg during fasting and non-fasting period, respectively. The smallholder producer price of a kilogram of butter was around 143 and 164 Ethiopian birr during the fasting and non-fasting season, respectively. Traders and shops reported to have an average profit margin of 14 to19 Ethiopian birr/kg of butter. Results of the assessment showed that about 54% of producers were selling butter fortnightly while the remaining 45% were selling once in a week. The major butter buyers xv from smallholder farmers were urban consumers (65%), hotels and restaurants (21%), and traders (13%). Most (72%) of the sample households used public transportation to take butter to market places. Seasonality of butter consumption was the most frequently (76%) reported factor affecting both demand and price of butter. About 96% of the sample respondents were washing their hands before milking with 53% of them practicing drying their hands using any piece of cloth or were not at all drying (43%). Water sources used for cleaning purposes were different among the study sites with only about 54% of the respondents having access to tap water. The majority (91%) of the respondents were washing the udder before milking with most of them using a common towel to dry udders of all milking cows. The majority (83 to 100%) of the surveyed households were using plastic containers for milking and milk storage. Only about 46% of the respondents reported to use warm water and detergent to clean milk utensils. Lack of clean water (42%), electric and cooling facilities (24%) and limited awareness of milk handling (15%) were the most frequently reported challenges related to milk handling. Concerning butter handling practices with the exception of butter traders, all the respondents were washing hands prior to handling. Water was inaccessible for butter traders at market places, while all dairy product shops and dairy cooperatives had access to tap water for cleaning purpose. The majority (75 to 100%) of the respondents along the butter value chain were using plastic materials for butter storage. Most of the interviewees were washing hands and containers using warm water and detergent. The average aerobic mesophilic bacterial, coliform, lactic acid bacterial and yeast and mould counts of the milk samples were 6.76, 3.50, 2.87 and 5.06 log cfu/ml, respectively. The average aerobic mesophilic bacterial, coliform, lactic acid bacterial, yeast and mould and lipolytic bacterial counts for butter samples collected from various sources were 6.23, 2.50, 4.38, 4.60, 3.98 log cfu/g, respectively. Only 2.6 to 7.5% of the milk, fermented milk (Irgo) and butter samples were positive for Listeria monocytogenes; while Salmonella spp. was not detected in any of the samples. In conclusion, the results of the survey study and the microbial counts suggest that the raw milk, fermented milk (Irgo) and butter produced and marketed in the present study areas were not manufactured under recommended hygienic conditions thus are of substandard quality, which may pose health risks to the consumer. Therefore, corrective measures should be taken, starting with hygienic milk production and further handling practices of milk and its derivate until they reach end user consumers.