Meat Safety in Tanzania’s Value Chain: Experiences, Explanations and Expectations in Butcheries and Eateries

Abstract

Urbanisation is associated with changes in consumption patterns and food production processes. These patterns and processes can increase or decrease the risks of outbreaks of foodborne diseases and are generally accompanied by changes in food safety policies and regulations about food handling. This affects consumers, as well as people economically engaged in the food value chain. This study looks at Tanzania’s red meat value chain—which in its totality involves about one third of the population—and focuses on the knowledge, attitudes and reported practices of operators of butcheries and eateries with regards to meat safety in an urban and in a rural environment. We interviewed 64 operators about their experiences with foodborne diseases and their explanations and expectations around meat safety, with a particular emphasis on how they understood their own actions regarding food safety risks vis-à-vis regulations. We found operators of eateries emphasising their own agency in keeping meat safe, whereas operators of butcheries—whose products are more closely inspected—relied more on official inspections. Looking towards meat safety in the future, interviewees in rural areas were, relative to their urban counterparts, more optimistic, which we attribute to rural operators’ shorter and relatively unmediated value chains.

What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors’ and Consumers’ Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

“…Regarding the final research question, salience of food safety among vendors, we found that most vendors did not see food safety, cleanliness, or hygiene as a key trait of a successful vendor and that just over half of vendors had any concern about the safety of their food. Similarly low prioritization of food safety, despite documented risks, has been found among meat sellers in Tanzania [ 59 ]. Vendors’ perceptions of food hazards were largely similar to those of consumers, with the exception of cowpea, a product for which vendors acknowledge consumers’ concerns but (at least some) feel that they have adequate technology to mitigate through the use of improved storage bags [ 60 ].…”

Spread of Nontyphoidal Salmonella in the Beef Supply Chain in Northern Tanzania: Sensitivity in a Probabilistic Model Integrating Microbiological Data and Data from Stakeholder Interviews

“…For example, the Manyara Region is a dominant source of cattle, with distances to Moshi of several hundreds of kilometers (Allan, 2016). Survey data and interviews (Allan, 2016; Hrynick et al., 2019; Prinsen et al., 2020) indicated beef cattle slaughtered in MMC are on average six years old. The traders collect small numbers of animals, mostly adult males, from livestock keepers or primary markets and deliver them to a terminal market that was considered the “effective origin” for cattle entering the MMC beef supply.…”

“…By contrast, postharvest prevalence of NTS is relatively high, certainly in comparison with retail beef products outside Africa (Khen et al., 2014; Thung et al., 2017), so a precautionary approach suggests that strategies for maintaining consumer awareness of the importance of cooking and the risk of cross contamination are appropriate. While awareness of foodborne disease appears high among cooked meat vendors in the study area (Prinsen et al., 2020), we did not address consumer knowledge or household practices. In addition, sensitivity analysis highlighted that transfer coefficients have a strong influence on the model results.…”

“…Semistructured interviews were conducted from 2016 through 2018 with actors across the beef value chain in Moshi Municipal Council (MMC), including butchers, fresh meat vendors, livestock extension officers, meat inspectors, and health officers. Actors at regional or district level were selected based on their key role, whereas others were recruited from five randomly selected wards each in Moshi Rural District and Moshi Municipality in consultation with local authorities, as detailed previously (Hrynick et al., 2019; Prinsen et al., 2020; Waldman et al., 2020). Interviews were conducted in Swahili, audio‐recorded, translated and transcribed into English by a Tanzanian interviewer with knowledge of local dialect, policy, regulation, and commerce, which were covered in the interviews, together with perceptions of food safety (Hrynick et al., 2019; Prinsen et al., 2020; Waldman et al., 2020).…”

From agricultural supply chains to food system transformation : Tracing the impact of private sector activities on food systems in developing countries

“…Le et al (2020) show that the implementation of good agricultural practices may reinforce confidence and trust amongst downstream stakeholders. In a similar vein, quality upgrading starts with knowledge brokerage on suitable production and postharvest practices (Chengat Maldonado-Siman et al, 2014) but is ultimately dependent on wider cooperation with other food system partners (Le et al, 2020;Prinsen et al, 2020;Supapunt et al, 2021). Little attention is found for socio-economic and environmental outcomes at regional and global levels (Galli et al, 2020).…”