**3.1.1 Milking environment**

In Ethiopia, there is no standard hygienic condition followed by producers during milk production. The hygienic conditions are different according to the production system, adapted practices, level of awareness, and availability of resources. In most of the cases under smallholder condition, the common hygienic measures taken during milk production especially during milking are limited to letting the calf to suckle for few minutes and/or washing the udder before milking. The quality of the water used for

Microbial Properties of Ethiopian Marketed Milk and Milk Products and

**3.1.3 Milking utensils** 

equipment)

equipment)

**3.1.4 Source of water used for cleaning** 

should at least filter and heat treat it before use.

16%

60%

20%

Associated Critical Points of Contamination: An Epidemiological Perspective 301

About 81 and 3.4% of the respondents used plastic and stainless equipment, respectively, while 6.6% of them used clay pot. Equipment used for milking, processing and storage determine the quality of milk and milk products. Producers need therefore pay particular attention for the type as well as cleanliness of milk equipment. Milking equipment should

Although, about 45% of the respondents reported to use tap water for cleaning purpose (udder, milk equipment and hand), about 19 and 16% of them reported to use river and ground water, respectively, while the remaining about 20% reported to use water from either of the aforementioned sources (Fig. 1). Moreover, about 60% of the respondents that reported to use water from non tap sources neither boil nor filter it before use (Fig. 2). When water from non tap sources is used for cleaning purpose, it is important that producers

45%

32%

7% 1%

Fig. 2. Treatment of water from non tap sources before use (cleaning udder, hand, milk

Tap w ater River

Hand dug ground w ater All sources

> Boiling Filtering Both methods No treatment

be easy to clean. Aluminum and stainless steel equipment are mostly preferred.

19%

Fig. 1. Source of water used for cleaning purpose (cleaning udder, hands and milk

cleaning purpose (to wash the udder, milk equipment, hands), however, is not secured (Yilma, 2003).

Maintaining the sanitary condition of milking area is important for the production of good quality milk. The drainage condition of the milking area, in this regard, is one of the most determinant factors. As observed during the current study, about 71% of the respondents had well drained and easy to clean barns. This is mainly attributed to the large proportion (80.4%) of the respondents from all the study areas that used housed type of barn for their crossbred cows. Since housed and well built barns can drain easily, it has positive correlation with overall hygienic conditions of a given milking environment rendering the production of better quality milk. However, the barns owned by about 29% of the respondents were observed to be not well drained and difficult to clean, which leads to poor quality milk production. It is therefore important that producers consider appropriate drainage conditions of the milking environment as an integral part of production hygiene to ensure the supply of safe and good quality milk and its derivatives. It is also essential to implement a regular barn cleaning scheme. Although, about 87% of the respondents cleaned their barn on daily basis, about 9% of them cleaned only once or twice a week, and the remaining 4% did not clean at all.
