Improving milk quality for enhanced food security and child nutrition in Rwanda

Jean Pierre's thesis, Biosecurity and milk production among smallholder dairy farmers in Rwanda. Effects on child nutrition and prevention of zoonotic diseases, aimed to explore how management and household practices on smallholder dairy farms in Rwanda’s Northern Province impact milk production and quality, with the goal of improving food security, nutrition, and the livelihoods of local families.

The field research involved collecting cow’s milk and children’s faecal samples from 156 households with lactating cows for laboratory analysis.

The findings reveal several important points:

• Poor management practices on smallholder farms, such as inadequate feeding and irregular milking, were linked to lower milk productivity. Factors like cattle breed, milking frequency, and animal health also play a role in improving milk yield.
  
  
• High levels of antibiotic residues and somatic cells in milk signal health problems in the animals, which can affect both milk yield and quality. Additionally, raw milk samples tested positive for zoonotic pathogens, such as Salmonella, raising concerns about food safety. These pathogens, often linked to poor milking and handling, pose a health risk to consumers.
  
  
• The study also examined child nutrition, finding a reduction in stunting from 41% in 2020 (for children under five) to 27% (for children under three). While this is a positive trend, stunting remains a significant issue, influenced by multiple factors beyond just milk consumption.

These findings emphasise the need for a multidisciplinary approach to improve milk production and quality. Such interventions could help address child malnutrition and enhance food security, nutrition, and livelihoods in Rwanda's rural areas.

Jean Pierre's own words on his research results

Based on your research, what are your advice on how to improve child nutrition in Rwanda and to prevent zoonotic diseases?

– Smallholder farmers should be educated on the best practices in farming and milking to enhance both milk production and quality. Improving household hygiene and farm biosecurity is essential. This will ensure that milk is produced and handled safely, reducing the risk of contamination and zoonotic diseases.

– Also a targeted training programme for all participants in the milk value chain should be implemented to improve the safety of milk that is sold through informal channels, with an emphasis on adopting a One Health approach.

– Practically, at the village level, I would like to formulate a short message in the local language to the local leaders for easy access to work with smallholders farmers. I also want to ensure them that things are not going bad, but there are some improvements to do.

– Finally, I would like to mention, that in my thesis, in the popular science part, I have included a part in my local language, which is not so common, actually I haven't seen in a thesis before.

What will you do next?

- I am working on a policy brief for policy level. And when I am going back to Rwanda, if I can get funding, I want to do a pilot study to investigate further on the things I have found in my research so far.

Thank you Jean Pierre, and got luck with your future endeavours!