Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for safe pork products in rural Kenya.

Designing interventions to support the safe development of rapidly growing livestock value chains in sub-Saharan Africa requires a clear understanding of consumer demands. This study aimed to determine purchase patterns, consumers' preferences, and willingness to pay for safe pork attributes; specifically, the presence of a veterinary inspection stamp and the cleanliness of the butchery. A discrete choice experiment-based survey was used to investigate the purchasing behavior of 401 pork consumers: 253 buying raw pork for household consumption, and 148 buying cooked pork for out-of-home consumption. The study findings indicate that the average quantity of pork purchased by consumers was approximately 0.4 Kg per transaction, with the majority of consumers making several purchases per week. The average price per Kg of pork was KES 310 (Approx. 2.60 USD) at the time of the study. Data from the choice experiment showed that consumers were willing to pay a price premium of KES 245 (Approx. 2.1 USD) and KES 164 (Approx. 1.4 USD) per Kg for evidence of better veterinary meat inspection and higher butchery hygiene respectively; further, these were the two most important attributes they considered while making a pork purchase decision. These findings highlight the potential to leverage consumers' willingness to pay to improve the food safety within pork value chains in this context. Investing to increase consumer awareness on food safety issues should be considered to generate an effective market demand, especially in rural areas with relatively lower literacy levels.

Non-typhoidal salmonella contamination along the pork value chain in a rural East African setting: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a serious foodborne pathogen that has previously been isolated from pigs presented for slaughter in a rural pork value chain in western Kenya. METHODS: To understand varying NTS contamination along the value chain we assessed prevalence at slaughter, transport and retail. Suspect isolates from culture were confirmed using matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Prevalence on pig carcasses, meat transportation containers, retailed raw and cooked pork and accompanying side salads was 18.1%, 23.9%, 28.0%, 1.9% and 8.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: NTS contamination is propagated along the pork value chain in rural western Kenya, demonstrating the need for improved hygiene measures to prevent human exposure.