Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for safe pork products in rural Kenya

Designing interventions to support the safe development of rapidly growing livestock value chains in sub-Saharan Africa requires a clear understanding of consumer demands. This study aimed to determine purchase patterns, consumers' preferences, and willingness to pay for safe pork attributes; specifically, the presence of a veterinary inspection stamp and the cleanliness of the butchery. A discrete choice experiment-based survey was used to investigate the purchasing behavior of 401 pork consumers: 253 buying raw pork for household consumption, and 148 buying cooked pork for out-of-home consumption. The study findings indicate that the average quantity of pork purchased by consumers was approximately 0.4 Kg per transaction, with the majority of consumers making several purchases per week. The average price per Kg of pork was KES 310 (Approx. 2.60 USD) at the time of the study. Data from the choice experiment showed that consumers were willing to pay a price premium of KES 245 (Approx. 2.1 USD) and KES 164 (Approx. 1.4 USD) per Kg for evidence of better veterinary meat inspection and higher butchery hygiene respectively; further, these were the two most important attributes they considered while making a pork purchase decision. These findings highlight the potential to leverage consumers' willingness to pay to improve the food safety within pork value chains in this context. Investing to increase consumer awareness on food safety issues should be considered to generate an effective market demand, especially in rural areas with relatively lower literacy levels.

Prevalence of gross lesions and handling practices in pigs and their association with pork quality, Kiambu, Kenya

Pre-slaughter handling of pigs has been documented to affect the quality of meat though no studies have investigated this relationship in the Kenyan context. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of gross lesions and practices related to sub-optimal welfare in pigs presented for slaughter while analyzing the relationship between occurrence of these lesions and meat quality. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a medium scale, non-integrated pig abattoir supplying to the Nairobi market, with a capacity to slaughter approximately 40 pigs a day. Data on welfare-associated lesions and handling practices were obtained from 529 pig carcasses and traders respectively. 387 pork samples were collected, and their quality evaluated by measuring their pH, meat color and drip loss. These three parameters were used to classify pork into four recognized categories namely: Red, Firm, Non-exudative (RFN), Pale Soft Exudative (PSE), Dark Firm Dry (DFD) and Red Soft Exudative (RSE). Almost all pigs were inefficiently stunned as evidenced by the presence of consciousness post-stunning. The majority of pigs (82.97%) having one or more welfare-associated gross lesions. Other animal welfare malpractices observed were high loading density and inadequate rest periods between transport and slaughter. A quarter of the pork samples were of sub-optimal quality including: RSE (11.36%), PSE (2.58%) and DFD (2.58%). Multinomial logistic regression revealed that pork originating from pigs transported at a high loading density had increased odds of being classified as DFD (OR 13.41, 95% CI 2.59–69.46). The findings indicate the need to educate stakeholders in the pork value chains on improved pig handling before and during slaughter to enhance pig welfare pre-slaughter and pork quality post-slaughter. Animal welfare legislation enforcement and implementation was observed to be insufficient. There is a need to educate key stakeholders on its importance of being put into practice both from economic and welfare perspectives.

Possibilities of establishing a smallholder pig identification and traceability system in Kenya

Consumers have a right to safer foods, and traceability is one approach to meeting their expectations. Kenya does not have an operational animal traceability system, and while a few initiatives have been piloted, these have only focused on the beef value chain. In this paper, we begin a discussion on traceability in the pig value chain, with an initial focus on smallholder systems of Western Kenya. First, a background to local pig production is given, and a description of animal identification and traceability options applicable to these systems is explained. Based on this, a “butcher-to-farm” traceability system, with health, production and food safety as objectives, is discussed. Requirements for establishing such a system (including actor incentives) are additionally discussed. The proposed approach can be piloted in the field and findings used to inform the design of a larger pilot and possibly pave way for implementation of a national traceability system, in line with the guidelines provided by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Organized systems in the area (including commercial producer and trader groups) would offer a useful starting point.

Social network analysis provides insights into African swine fever epidemiology

Pig movements play a significant role in the spread of economically important infectious diseases such as the African swine fever. Characterization of movement networks between pig farms and through other types of farm and household enterprises that are involved in pig value chains can provide useful information on the role that different participants in the networks play in pathogen transmission. Analysis of social networks that underpin these pig movements can reveal pathways that are important in the transmission of disease, trade in commodities, the dissemination of information and the influence of behavioural norms. We assessed pig movements among pig keeping households within West Kenya and East Uganda and across the shared Kenya-Uganda border in the study region, to gain insight into within-country and trans-boundary pig movements. Villages were sampled using a randomized cluster design. Data were collected through interviews in 2012 and 2013 from 683 smallholder pig-keeping households in 34 villages. NodeXL software was used to describe pig movement networks at village level. The pig movement and trade networks were localized and based on close social networks involving family ties, friendships and relationships with neighbours. Pig movement network modularity ranged from 0.2 to 0.5 and exhibited good community structure within the network implying an easy flow of knowledge and adoption of new attitudes and beliefs, but also promoting an enhanced rate of disease transmission. The average path length of 5 defined using NodeXL, indicated that disease could easily reach every node in a cluster. Cross-border boar service between Uganda and Kenya was also recorded. Unmonitored trade in both directions was prevalent. While most pig transactions in the absence of disease, were at a small scale (<5km) and characterized by regular agistment, most pig sales during ASF outbreaks were to traders or other farmers from outside the sellers' village at a range of >10km. The close social relationships between actors in pig movement networks indicate the potential for possible interventions to develop shared norms and mutually accepted protocols amongst smallholder pig keepers to better manage the risk of ASF introduction and transmission.

African swine fever virus eradication in Africa

African swine fever was reported in domestic pigs in 26 African countries during the period 2009-2011. The virus exists in an ancient sylvatic cycle between warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) and argasid ticks of the Ornithodoros moubata complex in many of the countries reporting outbreaks and in two further countries in the region. Eradication of the virus from the countries in eastern and southern Africa where the classic sylvatic cycle occurs is clearly not an option. However, the virus has become endemic in domestic pigs in 20 countries and the great majority of outbreaks in recent decades, even in some countries where the sylvatic cycle occurs, have been associated with movement of infected pigs and pig meat. Pig production and marketing and ASF control in Africa have been examined in order to identify risk factors for the maintenance and spread of ASF. These include large pig populations, traditional free-range husbandry systems, lack of biosecurity in semi-intensive and intensive husbandry systems, lack of organisation in both pig production and pig marketing that results in lack of incentives for investment in pig farming, and ineffective management of ASF. Most of these factors are linked to poverty, yet pigs are recognised as a livestock species that can be used to improve livelihoods and contribute significantly to food security. The changes needed and how they might be implemented in order to reduce the risk of ASF to pig producers in Africa and to the rest of the world are explored.