Abstract:
Pig production is among other animal keeping activities that have been practised in
Morogoro region for food as well as generating income. The increase in urban population
in the region has resulted into the increase in urban and peri-urban farming as a response
to the increament in food demand from plants as well as animals; thus created a need to
understand the health risks that could be brought about, and the biosecurity measures that
can cancel those risks. This crosssectional study was conducted in 13 wards of Morogoro
municipality,Tanzania, to assess possible health risks in urban and peri-urban pig
production and identify available biosecurity measures. A total of 282 pig farmers were
randomly chosen from purposively selected streets answered a structured questionnaire to
measure respondents’ knowledge on the diseases that have affected his/her pigs,
husbandry systems and practises, animal waste management as well as biosecurity
practices and their feasibility. Twelve (12) key informants were interviewed on the
subject: Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis and association between
variables were assessed for statistical significance at a critical probability of P <0.05.
Data from questionnaire were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS). The study revealed that, 48.2% of respondents were not aware of health risks
associated with pig production. About 9.2% wore local protective gears (wrapping plastic
bags on hands, and normal shoes-yeboyebo) while 19.1% did not have any protective
measure. Only 0.4% generated biogas out of the manure. Animal quarantining was
practiced by 68.4%, presence of screening was 20.6%, while veterinary service was
accessible to 66.3%. Poor knowledge on animal wastes handling is becoming a major
challenge to public health. Therefore the municipal authorities should ensure that farmers
are advised and trained to generate biogas out of the animal wastes, its officials dealing
with livestock development are well equipped to ensure accessible veterinary services to
all the livestock keepers especially those who reside at the peripheral areas. By so doing;
more knowledge will be disseminated on good farming practices.
