Hygienic Milk Production Practices in Pastoral and Agro-Pastoral Production Systems in Babile District, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate hygienic cow milk production practices in Babile district of eastern Ethiopia. A total of 160 milk producers were selected from pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems using stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaire survey and field observation. The majority of respondents in pastoral (92.5%-95%) and agro-pastoral (87.5-90%) production systems were illiterate where none of them had gotten training on hygienic milk production practices. Most of the respondents in both production systems were not discarding milk from diseased cows and teats but used for home consumption and market, however, the proportion (43.8%) of agro-pastoralists who discard milk from diseased cows/teats were significantly (P = 0.03) higher than that for pastoralist (22.5%).The use of milk from cows on medication before drug withdrawal periods was common in the majority of respondents in pastoral (82.5%) and agro-pastoral (62.5%) production systems. All of the respondents in the study area keep their cattle in separate corrals which are poor in their drainage system and difficult to clean, and are uncomfortable to animals. The majority (75%) of the respondents in the study area reported that they used to milk cows while the cows showing disease symptoms. About 50% from pastoral and 65% from agro-pastoral areas reported that they used to wash hands with cold water before milking. Plastic equipment was the commonly used milking utensil in the study area. The milking utensils were commonly washed with cold water with Ajax soap/leaves of Lantana camara as detergent. Calf suckling was commonly used as a method of cleaning teats before milking by large proportion of respondents in pastoral (92.5%) and agro-pastoral (86.3%) production systems. The majority of the respondents in pastoral (60%) and some from agro-pastoral (43.8%) production systems were using water from non-tap sources for hygienic practices. Moreover, none of the respondents in the district treat wash-water prior to use for hygienic practices. In general, milk production practices performed in the study area were unhygienic. It is, therefore, suggested the need for improving hygienic practices through awareness creation and capacity development of milk producers on hygienic practices essential for safe milk production in the district. Moreover, providing better quality water for producers is very crucial.