SESSION 6. Approach to ensuring safety and hygiene in the dairy production chain in emerging dairy nations
Abstract
Milk production has reached sophisticated levels in the developing world, but emerging farmers need to go back to basics. These are based on selection of a healthy cow, personal hygiene and a hygienic environment. Usually these principles are taught at a farmer’s day, by extension officers or paraveterinary staff, with very few available teaching resources on the dairy farm. After participatory appraisal and research in this regard, it has been found that an educational CD-Rom with photographs of all the steps required, is practical and possible. A series of photographs would be taken showing all the steps in the process. The photographs would be put into Power Point, with a small amount of text below each photograph and arrows showing specifics on the photographs. The CD-Rom is inserted into a computer and the Power Point presentation is used to instruct small groups (of about 5 farmers) in the correct procedures. It is considerably better in practice to use this method since those with a poor educational background find it difficult to follow the rapid progression of a video presentation. This is especially the case when people in a larger group jostle for position and miss important points. If the CD-Rom is used, the extension officer or veterinarian talks during the presentation but can move back and forward with the photographs to explain and demonstrate.
Included with the CD-Rom would be a handout that the extension officer leaves with the farmers. After the method is demonstrated, a hands-on demonstration can be done at the milking shed. The technique has proved very useful in practice. Very few resources are required other than a computer, Power Point software, and a scanner or digital camera. An important proviso is that the person preparing the presentation has a very good knowledge of milk hygiene principles and adult education/ veterinary extension methodology. A CD-Rom produced for this sort of extension work will be demonstrated during the presentation, as well as the type of extension pamphlets
that can be printed.
INTRODUCTION
Bembridge (1991) said “Teaching is the art of changing behavior by facilitating the learning process”. Teaching is not just presenting facts for people to ingest and regurgitate - it involves active participation and the more senses that can be stimulated, the more likely it is that the knowledge and skills will be retained.
People will also forget what they do not practice. This is not a new finding, “Practice makes perfect” is a very old English saying. It is therefore a good idea to repeat a message several times in several different ways if you want people to remember it.
Verbal communication is not enough. Even a simple procedure may not be carried out correctly if it is just described and not demonstrated. Operant conditioning, or positive reinforcement is not easy to do if the message is given to the receiver verbally and the receiver just accepts the message passively. If the receiver is allowed to practice the skill, the sender can reinforce the correct application with praise. Trainees learn skills better if they are shown how to do them and then allowed to practice them repeatedly under supervision.
Pictures help, but in many cases, extension pamphlets or posters contain a large amount of information with only one or two photos. The written word is a good medium for training those who have higher levels of education and who enjoy reading. For many people, however, reading is a chore - they would rather communicate verbally.
Another problem with current extension is that the sender, who is a highly qualified person, wants to give far too much information at one time. The classic allegory for this overload of information is the question “ How do you eat an elephant?” The answer is: “one mouthful at a time”. No one can swallow a whole elephant, yet the impression is sometimes given that small-scale farmers with little educational background are expected to swallow the whole of dairy science and animal management at a single mouthful. From experience, it has been found that three to five concepts, or a single skill should be taught at one time (McCrindle, 2003).
Extension messages also need to be properly structured. The FAO Primary Animal Health Care Manual (1994) suggests that each complex task should be broken down into its individual simple components and skills assessed at each stage. The manual gives as an example the castration of piglets. . Research done by Makgatho and McCrindle (2003, unpublished data) used these principles to develop a simple method for teaching small-scale farmers elementary necropsy techniques. It was found that there was a significant improvement in both knowledge level and application over a 12-month assessment period. The method is described in detail below.
Milk is an ideal medium for the growth of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms and the first step in preventing it becoming contaminated is a clean udder. This paper describes the application of the method to the teaching of milk hygiene principles to small-scale farmers or new employees.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Modules are divided into learning objectives, and each learning objective is given an outcome, which is specifically defined, as well as assessment criteria. The outcome, for instance, would be correct preparation of udder for milking. Each step in the process would be defined and written down. then a series of photographs would be taken showing each individual procedure from the time the cow enters the dairy. The photographs would be put into a slide show using Microsoft Power Point, with a small amount of text below each photograph and arrows showing specifics on the photographs.
The slide show would be saved onto a CD-Rom and the photographs could them be used either as a presentation to a small group of farmers using the computer screen as visual aid, to a larger group using overheads, or to a single farmer or labourer using prints covered in plastic as a booklet or flip chart. With the slide presentation, an extension leaflet would be prepared that can be used by the sender to present the information to the farmer. Ideally the extension materials would be used in conjunction with observations and skills training on cows.
RESULTS:
This method of teaching is relatively simple and inexpensive and can be used by most extension workers who have access to a camera and scanner, digital camera, computer and printer. Even if these only exist at one location, the extension materials can be printed out as overhead transparencies or as flip charts in the absence of electricity. The “slide show” format does not require a dark room, electricity and slide projector and is more user friendly than a video production, which tends to go past too quickly for an unsophisticated audience to follow. In the case of the slide show format, even at its simplest, in the form of a flip chart, the extension officer can move quickly back and forward through the presentation to answer questions and point out things that the trainee might have missed
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper proposes the use of appropriate technology to produce extension material that is not as rigid as books, leaflets or pamphlets. It can be produced relatively quickly and cheaply to meet the needs of a specific situation or target audience and modified as the situation changes. The method would be suitable for training small-scale farmers or dairy workers and can be applied to a number of different training modules as an effective visual aid.
REFERENCES:
1. Bembridge T J 1991 The Practice of Agricultural Extension. Development Bank of South Africa, Halfway House, Gauteng, South Africa.
2. Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations 1994 FAO Primary Animal Health Care Manual
3. McCrindle CME 2003 Experiences in Participatory Action Research to promote animal health and food safety in rural, peri-urban, urban and settlement areas in South Africa. Proceedings of the ALARPM 6th and PAR 10th World Congress: Learning partners in Action. 21-24 September 2003.
IDF/FAO international symposium on dairy safety and hygiene Cape Town,
South Africa, March 2–5, 2004
|
 |
 | |