Evaluation of Smallholder Dairy Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Factors Contributing to Hygienic Production of Raw Milk in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division
Keywords:
attitudes, compliance, hygienic milk production, knowledge, Malawi and practices
Abstract
Dairy products provide nutrition to households but, could also serve as a source of many milk-borne diseases when produced under poor hygiene conditions. This cross-sectional study administered 410 questionnaires, collected 90 raw milk samples and visited 90 farms to evaluate hygienic milk production practices in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD). The majority of farmers 86% and 66.6% (n=410) had formal education and structured pre-training in hygienic milk production respectively. The overall KAP knowledge was only 54%, most smallholder dairy farmers reported positive attitudes at 88% and excellent practices at 63%. Few farmers (27.1%; n=410) had low aggregate score of knowledge, attitude and practice were six (OR=5.910, 95% CI: 1.997-17.489) times less likely to produce hygienic milk. Inadequate pre-training and a low aggregate score were identified as key factors behind the failure of smallholder farmers in Malawi’s BLADD to meet Malawian and European Union (EU) standards, raising concerns about potential milk-borne diseases. Out of 90 raw milk samples analysed for presence of E. coli, 11 (12%) and 50 (55.5%) raw milk samples were within acceptable limits of Malawian and European Union standards respectively. These low percentages obtained could be attributed to unsanitary animal quarters, as half of smallholder dairy farmers in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division do not remove waste daily and some workers milk cows without supervision. In conclusion, smallholder dairy farmers had positive attitudes and good milk hygiene practices without grounded knowledge, and it was difficult to meet legal limits of Malawi and European Union Standards for E. coli. To address this, it is recommended that initial training and ongoing annual refresher sessions be offered to dairy farmers.References
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9. Mweeba B. Microbial content and quality of raw bovine milk from selected farmers in Namwala district of Zambia. 2019.
10. Njombwa CA. LSU Scholarly Repository Occurrence of Aflatoxin and Zearalenone in Concentrate Feeds and Milk Contamination with Aflatoxin M1 and Bacterial Pathogens in Malawi Feeds and milk contamination with Aflatoxin M 1 AND. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12550-020-00417-5
11. Chalmers N, Revoredo-Giha C, Jumbe C. Measuring the degree of integration in the dairy products market in Malawi. Soc Sci. 2019; 8(2).
12. Fisher AA, Laing J, J S, Townsend JW. Handbook for Family Planning, Operations Research Design, the Population Council. Soc Sci Med. 1991; 39:381–90.
13. Kainga H, Mponela J, Basikolo L, Phonera MC, Mpundu P, Munyeme M, et al. Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Rift Valley Fever among Livestock Farmers in Selected Districts of Malawi. 2022;
14. Nyokabi S, Luning PA, Boer IJM De, Korir L, Muunda E. Milk quality and hygiene : Knowledge, attitudes and practices of smallholder dairy farmers in central Kenya. Food Control. 2021;13 ((June):108303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108303
15. Berhanu L, Gume B, Kassa T, Sena L, Tegegne D, Getnet M, et al. Microbial quality of raw cow milk and its predictors along the dairy value chain in Southwest Ethiopia. Int J Food Microbiol [Internet]. 2021;350 (April):109228. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109228
16. Joshi A, Kale S, Chandel S, Pal D. Likert Scale: Explored and Explained. Br J Appl Sci Technol. 2015;7(4):396–403.
17. Orwa JD, Matofari JW, Muliro PS. Handling practices and microbial contamination sources of raw milk in rural and peri urban small holder farms in Nakuru County, Kenya. Int J Livest Prod [Internet]. 2017;8 (January):5–11. Available from: http://www.academicjournals.org/IJLP%0AInternational
18. ISO. International standard preparation of test samples, initial specific rules for the preparation of iteh standard preview. 2017; 2020.
Published
2025-05-25
How to Cite
1.
Chilambula E, Kothowa J, Kumwenda S, Phiri A. Evaluation of Smallholder Dairy Farmers’ Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Factors Contributing to Hygienic Production of Raw Milk in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division. Journal of Agricultural and Biomedical Sciences [Internet]. 25May2025 [cited 31May2025];8(4). Available from: https://medicine.unza.zm/index.php/JABS/article/view/1336
Section
Biomedical Sciences
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