Drivers of Compliance with Food-Safety Measures and their effects on the Profitability of Smallholder Dairy Farms in Central Uganda

Abstract

The majority of milk production in Uganda is in controlled by smallholder farmers (90% contribution) and the informal sector who face challenges in ensuring food safety. Though food safety compliance can facilitate commercialization and profitability, adoption is low. The foucs of this study was to determine food safety compliance and its profitability effect among smallholder dairy farmers. The study's specific objectives were to determine the level of compliance with food safety measures (FSMs); determine the effect of perceived behavioural control, attitudes, and subjective norms on farmers’ food safety practices; determine the leading drivers of FSMs compliance; and determine the effect of FSM adoption on the profitability of smallholder dairy enterprises in the region. Central Uganda was chosen for the research where 757 smallholder farmers were interviewed using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data was collected using structured questionnaires. Data analysis was done using SPSS, SMART PLS, and STATA. To address objective one, descriptive and inferential statistics were employed; for objective two, structural equation modeling was chosen; to address objective three, ordered logit regression was employed; and for objective four, ordered logit endogenous switching regression (ESR) was utilized. This research examined the adoption of 42 food safety measures which related to milk hygiene, storage, premises hygiene and animal health. Total adoption of FSMs was 62.88 per cent. Among the practices, milk storage was adopted to the maximum extent (73.5%) and animal health was adopted to the least extent (53.3%). Dry cow therapy and hand sanitization were adopted by less than 10%. Findings from objective two show that both behavioral control and attitude are significant predictors of the adoption of safety and hygiene control practices. In particular, they have a positive and significant effect on the outcome variable. On the other hand, subjective norms have a negative effect on safety and hygiene control practices. With respect to objective three, it was found that education of farmers, familiarity of farmers with FSMs and awareness of HACCP were important drivers of adoption. Further, the adoption significantly improved profitability by enhancing the quality of milk and market access. It was lack of farming experience, small farm size and compliance costs that were cited as barriers. The findings of objective four show that the profitability improves significantly with an increase in the adoption of FSM. This is majorly due to improvements in both, the quality of milk and premium market access. Improving the success and profitability of FSM practices requires the introduction of capacity-building, premium pricing incentives, better access to credit and supportive policies.