Food losses and food quality in the dairy chain
Food losses and quality issues are a big concern in dairy as well as in other value chains. A collaboration between 4 Dutch universities of applied sciences (Aeres, HAS, InHolland, VHL) and Egerton University and Meru University in Kenya is looking into these issues. The collaboration involves 3 dairy cooperatives: Githunguri dairy farmers coop society, Kaptama farmers coop society, Kitinda farmers coop society. The collaboration is called FORQLAB.
The acronym stands for 'Food Waste Reduction and Food Quality Living Lab'. In this living lab, universities work together with their partners around two action research questions for the dairy and avocado sectors in Kenya: What technical interventions and what governance interventions are required to encourage safe products and reduce food losses?
The expected results of FORQLAB include ten Master theses on food loss and quality; followed by capacity building with the cooperatives to improve their practices and finally the uptake of topics and approach in the education programmes of said universities.
Marco Verschuur is coordinator of the dairy activities in FORQLAB. He explains: A few years ago, VHL conducted research on the Climate Smart Dairy practices in Githunguri subcounty. The dairy coop is well established with a strong dairy hub. They manage to reduce incidences of mastitis and improve the quality of milk, both help to reduce food loss. According to the meetings we had in FORQLAB, the Bungoma coops really look forward to exchange with the Githunguri coop.
At the start of FORQLAB, master students of VHL conducted four food loss audits in dairy. The students found quite some differences in food losses, apparently influenced by how the cooperatives market their produce. In dairy, cooperatives have an established role in milk collection. Losses occur when they reject milk due to spoilage (mastitis, contamination or adulteration). It was noted that rejected milk finds another route to consumers. In Githunguri, most losses are found on the farm level, while in Bungoma losses happen at the collection level.”
Read more about FORQLAB on this page. https://www.nfpconnects.com/co...
What strategies or solutions do you think can be implemented to reduce food losses and improve food quality in the dairy chain in Kenya?
Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions on how Kenya can address these issues in the dairy industry.
Author
Wim Goris
coalition builder
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