Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia

Dairy production is an important livelihood source for smallholder dairy farmers who produce the majority of milk consumed and traded in Ethiopia. Dairy production is, however, constrained by livestock diseases that impact farm productivity, food safety, and animal welfare. Biosecurity measures (BSM...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nyokabi, N.S., Berg, S., Mihret, A., Almaw, G., Worku, G.G., Lindahl, Johanna F., Wood, J.L.N., Moore, H.L.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Hindawi Limited 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132575
_version_ 1855514498560950272
author Nyokabi, N.S.
Berg, S.
Mihret, A.
Almaw, G.
Worku, G.G.
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Wood, J.L.N.
Moore, H.L.
author_browse Almaw, G.
Berg, S.
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Mihret, A.
Moore, H.L.
Nyokabi, N.S.
Wood, J.L.N.
Worku, G.G.
author_facet Nyokabi, N.S.
Berg, S.
Mihret, A.
Almaw, G.
Worku, G.G.
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Wood, J.L.N.
Moore, H.L.
author_sort Nyokabi, N.S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Dairy production is an important livelihood source for smallholder dairy farmers who produce the majority of milk consumed and traded in Ethiopia. Dairy production is, however, constrained by livestock diseases that impact farm productivity, food safety, and animal welfare. Biosecurity measures (BSM) include all risk reduction strategies designed to avoid the introduction of pathogenic infections from outside and minimise the spread of diseases within dairy herds. This study used a cross-sectional survey to investigate the adoption of BSM in dairy farms in Addis Ababa and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. Using a questionnaire, scores for adopted external and internal BSM were calculated based on the Ghent’s University Biocheck tool to compare the performance of different farms in Ethiopia. The weighted external biosecurity score was 49.1%, which was below average (below 50% adoption), while the weighted internal biosecurity score was 55.5%. Low adoption of crucial BSM increases the risk of disease introduction into dairy farms and transmission within herds. Adoption of BSM at the farm level was driven by individual, demographic, and socio-economic drivers, including education, farming system, milk value chain, and farming experience among others. Results of this research reveal low adoption of BSM and the imperative to encourage farmers to implement BSM can lead to a reduction in disease pressures and, thus, a reduction in antibiotic use and increased dairy farms productivity, and improved animal health and welfare. Farmers can be encouraged through proactive engagement with veterinarians and extension professionals. Moreover, creating a favourable policy environment can support farmers to adopt and implement BSM, given the known fact that “prevention is better and cheaper than curing diseases.”
format Journal Article
id CGSpace132575
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Hindawi Limited
publisherStr Hindawi Limited
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1325752025-10-26T13:02:06Z Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia Nyokabi, N.S. Berg, S. Mihret, A. Almaw, G. Worku, G.G. Lindahl, Johanna F. Wood, J.L.N. Moore, H.L. animal production dairying Dairy production is an important livelihood source for smallholder dairy farmers who produce the majority of milk consumed and traded in Ethiopia. Dairy production is, however, constrained by livestock diseases that impact farm productivity, food safety, and animal welfare. Biosecurity measures (BSM) include all risk reduction strategies designed to avoid the introduction of pathogenic infections from outside and minimise the spread of diseases within dairy herds. This study used a cross-sectional survey to investigate the adoption of BSM in dairy farms in Addis Ababa and Oromia regions of Ethiopia. Using a questionnaire, scores for adopted external and internal BSM were calculated based on the Ghent’s University Biocheck tool to compare the performance of different farms in Ethiopia. The weighted external biosecurity score was 49.1%, which was below average (below 50% adoption), while the weighted internal biosecurity score was 55.5%. Low adoption of crucial BSM increases the risk of disease introduction into dairy farms and transmission within herds. Adoption of BSM at the farm level was driven by individual, demographic, and socio-economic drivers, including education, farming system, milk value chain, and farming experience among others. Results of this research reveal low adoption of BSM and the imperative to encourage farmers to implement BSM can lead to a reduction in disease pressures and, thus, a reduction in antibiotic use and increased dairy farms productivity, and improved animal health and welfare. Farmers can be encouraged through proactive engagement with veterinarians and extension professionals. Moreover, creating a favourable policy environment can support farmers to adopt and implement BSM, given the known fact that “prevention is better and cheaper than curing diseases.” 2023-08-14 2023-10-31T12:27:31Z 2023-10-31T12:27:31Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132575 en Open Access Hindawi Limited Nyokabi, N.S., Berg, S., Mihret, A., Almaw, G., Worku, G.G., Lindahl, J.F., Wood, J.L.N. and Moore, H.L. 2023. Adoption of Biosecurity Practices in Smallholder Dairy Farms in Ethiopia. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases 2023: 2277409.
spellingShingle animal production
dairying
Nyokabi, N.S.
Berg, S.
Mihret, A.
Almaw, G.
Worku, G.G.
Lindahl, Johanna F.
Wood, J.L.N.
Moore, H.L.
Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title_full Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title_fullStr Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title_short Adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in Ethiopia
title_sort adoption of biosecurity practices in smallholder dairy farms in ethiopia
topic animal production
dairying
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/132575
work_keys_str_mv AT nyokabins adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT bergs adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT mihreta adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT almawg adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT workugg adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT lindahljohannaf adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT woodjln adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia
AT moorehl adoptionofbiosecuritypracticesinsmallholderdairyfarmsinethiopia