Design and development of an electronic identification and traceability system for cattle under pastoral production systems: A case for Kenya

摘要

Traceabilitysystemsofferstrongincentivestolivestockandmeatexportingcountriesbyalteringtheirproductiveandindustrialprocessesinordertoaccesspremiummeatmarketsglobally.nbsp;Kenya,whilstacknowledgedasoneofthecountrieswithinthehornofAfricawithareasonablycredibleveterinaryservice,hasverylimitedaccesstobeefandlivestockmarketsinimportingcountriesduetoperceivedriskorsuspicionsofpresenceoftrans-boundaryanimaldiseases(TADs)suchasRiftValleyFever(RVF)andFootandMouthDisease(FMD),lackofcapacitytoprovetheabsenceofTADsandabsenceofaneffectivetraceabilitysystemthatactsasproxyforqualityassurance.nbsp;TheobjectiveofthisstudywastoreportontheprocessesthroughwhichamodeltraceabilitysystemwasdesignedforpastoralproductionsystemsofNortheasternKenya.nbsp;Thestudyreportsthatindustry-wideconsultationisacriticalingredientinthedesignprocessthatencompassedsimpledropdownmenus,lowpriceandphasedprocessofimplementation.Theuseofasinglecentraldatabasereducedconsiderablythecostofimplementationandminimizedresponsetimeforimpactanalysis.