Design and development of an electronic identification and traceability system for cattle under pastoral production systems: A case for Kenya.
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Date
2010Author
Matete, G O
Maingi, N
Muchemi, G
Gathuma, J M
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Traceability systems offer strong incentives to livestock and meat exporting countries by altering their
productive and industrial processes in order to access premium meat markets globally. Kenya, whilst
acknowledged as one of the countries within the horn of Africa with a reasonably credible veterinary
service, has very limited access to beef and livestock markets in importing countries due to perceived risk
or suspicions of presence of trans-boundary animal diseases (TADs) such as Rift Valley Fever (RVF) and
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), lack of capacity to prove the absence of TADs and absence of an effective
traceability system that acts as proxy for quality assurance. The objective of this study was to report on the
processes through which a model traceability system was designed for pastoral production systems of
Northeastern Kenya.
The study reports that industry-wide consultation is a critical ingredient in the design process that
encompassed simple drop down menus, low price and phased process of implementation. The use of a
single central database reduced considerably the cost of implementation and minimized response time for
impact analysis.
URI
http://www.irrd22/8/2010mate22139.htmhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/14245
Citation
Livestock Research for Rural Development Volume 22, Article #139,Publisher
Department of Veterinary Pathology, Microbiology & Parasitology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Nairobi Department of Public Health Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Nairobi, Kenya