Assessment of Biosecurity Practices Adoption in Broiler Farms in East Africa: Case Study of Pwani Region in Tanzania

Abstract

Broiler farming in Tanzania is an important poultry sub-sector, providing employment and the much-demanded meat hence, contributing to the income and nutrition of the population. However, for small to medium-scale producers the profitability has been hampered by high incidences of diseases and costs associated with their control. This study aimed to assess the biosecurity practices adopted by broiler farmers in the Pwani region, Tanzania. A structured questionnaire was administered to 78 broiler farmers complemented with on-site observations. Data collected were related to the socio-demographic characteristics, the structure of broiler farms, the level of biosecurity in the farms as well as the constraints related to levels of adoption. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the relative frequencies of categorical variables. The Biosecurity Index Score (%) as a measure of adoption level was computed using 44 Biosecurity Control Indicators. The results revealed that women (74.4%) were more represented in broiler production than men (25.6%). The respondents had received either formal training (education from primary to university) or informal training (vocational training: 7.7% of respondents). More than half of the households (53.8%) had activities annexed to broiler production including raising local chicken (75.76%) and other animal species such as cattle, goats, and rabbits (41.7%). The average mortality rate recorded in these farms was 11.7%. Biosecurity Index Score ranged from 44-66% (mean 53.83 ±4.23). There was low adoption of biosecurity between the farm’s boundary and the poultry houses. The study concludes that in the Pwani region biosecurity was moderately applied, which shows that farmers in this region are aware of the need to exercise biosecurity measures to prevent disease outbreaks. Some challenges including technical support, finances, and negligence still remain and need to be addressed to reduce the incidence of disease outbreaks and indiscriminate use of drugs.