The Role of Producer Organizations in Promoting Farm-Level Implementation of Milk Hygiene Strategies Among Dairy Farmers in Kenya

Description of variables used in the study

Variable	Description	Measurement	Expected sign
Dependent variable
MHI	Milk hygiene index	Index (0–100)
Independent variables
PO	Membership to producer organization	Binary	+
AGE	Age of household head	Continuous	±
EDUC	Number of years of formal schooling	Continuous	+
GND	Gender of household head	Binary	±
HHSZ	Composition of the household	Continuous	±
MRTS	Marital status	Binary	±
FMSZ	Size of the farm allocated to fodder	Continuous	+
COWN	Cow ownership	Categorical	±
CRT	Access to credit	Likert	+
TRN	Formal training on MHS	Binary	+
INSP	Inspection on MHS	Binary	+
DIST	Kilometres to the nearest town	Continuous	−

Summary results of percentages of farmers who reported having received milk hygiene training over a three-year period

Description of variables	Pooled (N = 282)	Non-members (n = 100)	Members (n = 182)	p-value
Milk hygiene training (%)	64.54	37.00	79.67	0.000*
Source of training (%)
Producer organization	78.02	67.57	80.69	0.085*
Government extension officer	14.84	29.73	11.03	0.004***
NGO	8.79	2.70	10.34	0.143
Input dealer	2.20	5.41	1.38	0.136
Milk processor	15.93	13.51	16.55	0.652
Media	4.40	2.70	4.83	0.574
On-farm hygiene inspection (%)	21.99	9.00	29.12	0.000***

Poisson coefficient estimates of the influence of dairy producer organization membership on the farm-level implementation of milk hygiene strategies

Variable	Coef.	IRR	p-value
PO membership (1 = yes, 0 = otherwise)	0.072 (0.012)	1.074 (0.013)	0.000***
Sex of household head	−0.008 (0.010)	0.992 (0.010)	0.438
Marital status	0.012 (0.017)	1.012 (0.017)	0.477
Log of milk per cow	0.014 (0.009)	1.014 (0.009)	0.123
Cow ownership	0.003 (0.011)	1.003 (0.011)	0.779
Total farm size	0.001 (0.000)	1.001 (0.000)	0.000***
Price per unit of milk	0.001 (0.004)	1.001 (0.004)	0.836
Hours spent on dairy farming activities	0.006 (0.002)	1.007 (0.002)	0.001***
Training in milk hygiene strategies	0.010 (0.012)	1.010 (0.012)	0.382
Distance to nearest town	−0.001 (0.001)	0.999 (0.001)	0.062*
Constant	2.954 (0.135)	19.192 (2.584)	0.000

j_j_jard_2024_01753_tabapp_001

Variable	VIF	1/VIF
PO membership	1.43	0.700507
Cow ownership	1.40	0.714100
Sex of household head	1.38	0.725604
Training_hygiene	1.33	0.752778
Hours spent on dairy activities	1.29	0.777644
Milk per cow	1.16	0.861249
Distance to the nearest town	1.13	0.883774
Milk price	1.07	0.930573
Marital status	1.05	0.950593
Total farm size	1.04	0.962173
Mean VIF	1.23

Comparisons of percentages of farmers implementing milk hygiene strategies by status of membership in dairy producer organizations

Practice	Pooled (N = 282)	Non-members (n = 100)	Members (n = 182)	p-value
Personal and animal health
Milkers do not milk when sick	72.37	63.70	77.13	0.000***
Milked cows free of diseases	90.32	87.78	91.74	0.097*
Cows with mastitis milk last and milk discarded	91.70	90.99	92.09	0.798
Milk from cows on antibiotics not consumed	97.54	97.73	97.44	0.798
Mastitis checking prior to milking	77.65	76.49	78.28	0.649
Foremilk from each teat was examined and abnormal milk discarded	74.58	71.53	76.26	0.268
Personal hygiene
Wash hands with soap before initiating milking	82.48	79.52	84.10	0.087*
Clean dry cloth used to dry hand after washing	86.70	86.13	87.02	0.768
Udder hygiene
Cow udder and teats washed before milking	95.40	96.11	95.01	0.403
Teats wiped with clean towel after washing	87.73	87.77	87.70	0.981
Use one towel per cow	77.06	77.10	78.70	0.278
Fast but gentle milking without interruptions	94.17	94.58	93.95	0.641
Stripping to get last drop out of the udder	94.28	93.56	94.68	0.504
Teats sprayed with antiseptic after milking	42.20	33.19	47.15	0.006***
Equipment hygiene
Cloth/strainer cleaned after use	92.83	88.42	95.25	0.004***
Cloth/strainer disinfected after use	64.58	55.69	69.46	0.008***
Equipment made from approved material	79.88	65.51	87.77	0.000***
Equipment cleaned immediately after use	94.75	93.72	95.31	0.294
Milk vessels/sterilized after cleaning	82.79	80.08	84.28	0.257
Vessels/equipment put upside down to dry	91.13	88.38	92.65	0.069*
Post-milking milk handling and storage
Immediate filtering of milk after milking	93.91	89.55	96.31	0.003***
Milk is stored in clean sealed containers	92.39	92.57	92.29	0.883
Milk transported within2 hours of milking	92.46	90.46	93.57	0.156
Cooling up to 10°C when stored for > 2 hours	68.33	44.14	81..63	0.000***
Workspace hygiene
Concrete floor of milking parlour	72.89	55.08	82.68	0.000***
Thorough cleaning of milking area	65.70	45.52	76.80	0.000***