Evaluation of smallholder dairy farmers’ knowledge, aattitudes, practices (KAP) and factors contributing to hygienic production of raw milk in Malawi’s Blantyre agriculture development division.
type: CreativeWork
description: Dairy products provide nutrition to households, but they could also serve as source of milk-borne diseases when produced under poor hygienic conditions. This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to September 2023 to evaluate smallholder dairy farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and factors affecting the hygienic milk production in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD). A questionnaire was administered to 410 participants in selected districts of Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Mulanje and Thyolo in Malawi to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices. This study collected 90 raw milk which was analysed at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences to investigate for compliance to Malawi or European Union Standards. Subsequently, a total of 90 small scale farms were visited to observe hygienic milk production. The version 26 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse data Chi square analysis for associated factors of hygienic milk production. A binary logistic regression to determine hygienic milk production predictors and p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Majority of 60% participants were females. Most of 86.6% and 66% the respondents had formal education and pre-training respectively. The overall KAP knowledge was only 54%, most smallholder dairy farmers reported positive attitudes at 88% and excellent practices at 63%. Most smallholder dairy farmer in Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD) had passed aggregate 80% while moderate were successful on composite score of 67%. Few farmers (27%; 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 BLADD to meet Malawian and European Union (EU) standards, raising concerns about potential milk-borne diseases. …
abstract: Dairy products provide nutrition to households, but they could also serve as source of milk-borne diseases when produced under poor hygienic conditions. This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to September 2023 to evaluate smallholder dairy farmers’ knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and factors affecting the hygienic milk production in Malawi’s Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD). A questionnaire was administered to 410 participants in selected districts of Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Mulanje and Thyolo in Malawi to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices. This study collected 90 raw milk which was analysed at Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences to investigate for compliance to Malawi or European Union Standards. Subsequently, a total of 90 small scale farms were visited to observe hygienic milk production. The version 26 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse data Chi square analysis for associated factors of hygienic milk production. A binary logistic regression to determine hygienic milk production predictors and p value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Majority of 60% participants were females. Most of 86.6% and 66% the respondents had formal education and pre-training respectively. The overall KAP knowledge was only 54%, most smallholder dairy farmers reported positive attitudes at 88% and excellent practices at 63%. Most smallholder dairy farmer in Blantyre Agriculture Development Division (BLADD) had passed aggregate 80% while moderate were successful on composite score of 67%. Few farmers (27%; 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 BLADD to meet Malawian and European Union (EU) standards, raising concerns about potential milk-borne diseases. …
author: Chilambula, Enock
language: en
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-27T22:06:24Z
provider: University of Zambia
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Zambia