PERCEPTION OF FARMERS, FEED PROCESSORS AND FEED RETAILERS ON CONTAMINANTS OF LIVESTOCK FEED AND WATER IN SOME SELECTED AREAS OF ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The study was undertaken in Western, Eastern and Southern Shoa Ethiopia with the aim to assess the handling and storage practices of feeds and risks related to livestock water along the feed production, marketing and utilization chain. A total of 180 individuals (feed processors=33, feed retailers=51, smallholder dairy producers=96) participated in the study. Because of improper harvesting and stacking, 91% of farmers encountered mold in roughage feeds. Most of the farmers provide light-moldy feeds to livestock by mixing with uncontaminated ones. About 67% and 33% of the interviewed farmers utilized extreme moldy feeds for firewood and damping respectively. Farmers perceived industrial effluent and leech to be as a safety risk to livestock water. All the interviewed farmers from Eastern Shoa are aware of industrial effluents as a problem for dairy production; and 66% and 34% of the respondents from Eastern and Western Shoa respectively identified leech to be a safety problem to livestock water. About 69% of the farmers used bucket for scooping from water bodies to exclude leech from being consumed by animals; and 50% of them treated animals with chopped tobacco and onion as indigenous knowledge. Feed processors=64%, feed retailers=82% and dairy producers=56% did not store their feed on raised floor indicating that there is probability of mold formation in stored feeds. About 67% of the feed processors, 73% feed retailers and 58% of the dairy producers stored concentrate feeds for shorter period of time (1 month).