While solutions for testing antimicrobial resistance do exist on the market, the cost of using them remains far beyond the reach of ordinary, small-scale farmers who constitute around 80% of Kenyas milk producers, says Teresia Ndung’u, a doctoral student at Kenya’s Egerton University
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), misuse and overuse of antimicrobials including everyday antiseptic, antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, and antiparasitic treatments are driving drug-resistance in pathogens like viruses and bacteria. This calls for urgent, multi-sectoral action, in order to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around food safety and security by 2030.
Kenya's large dairy sector which offers good opportunities to combat antimicrobial resistance however faces a plethora of challenges, namely the dominance of small-scale, often unregulated producers, and the existence of antibiotic residue in milk, caused by some animal husbandry practices. Teresia Ndung’u, director for Livestock Production in Nyandarua County and a doctoral student at Kenya’s Egerton University, is among the Kenyans tackling this issue head-on, and devising solutions which, she says, will help bolster food safety in Kenya and East Africa as a whole.
Ndung’u mentioned previously taking part in a project known as Quality Based Milk Payment Systems, where she came across a reagent that was able to detect whether microorganisms were resistant. Upon comparing test samples from different cows, she observed that the reagent did work, successfully detecting antibiotic resistance. However, she noted that the cost of testing was very high, thus emphasising the need to come up with a relatively cheaper solution and simpler test that would enable farmers and processors to identify antibiotic residues at farm level.
Ndung'u is now looking at scaling up her smallholder-based solution, in order for it to reach the mass market and be part of an overall drive to help improve food safety. Her revolutionary work has been made possible by a scholarship supported by World Bank International Development Association (IDA) funding for the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, based at Egerton University.
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