Content will include dissemination of research findings by the ENSURE project and milk safety information for consumers. The Center for Food Science and Nutrition of Addis Ababa University has been awarded a four years (October 31st, 2018 to October 31st, 2022) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office of UK for nearly 1 million USD for a pro
ject entitled “Ensuring safety and quality of milk and dairy products across the dairy value chain of Ethiopia” (ENSURE-E dairy). The main objective of the project is to reduce the prevalence of food borne pathogens (FBP) in Ethiopian dairy value chain by identifying major risk factors and providing capacity building training for value-chain actors and government stakeholders. For the successful completion of this project, the University has created a partnership with two renowned US based universities (Pennsylvania State University and Kansas State University). Moreover, to ensure sustainability of the project objectives beyond the completion of the project, the University has also partnered with Dairy Research Center of Excellence at Holeta Agricultural Research Center (HARC) of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR). The three main objectives of the project are:
1. Assess practices and risk factors during the production, transportation, processing and distribution of milk and dairy products across the dairy value-chain actors in Ethiopia
2. To identify the prevalence and distribution of food-borne biological hazards associated with milk and dairy products across the dairy value-chain actors in Ethiopia
3. Increase food safety and food microbiology laboratory capacity of the dairy value-chain actors and government stakeholders through training. The project planned to apply three techniques to achieve the project objectives. These are:
1) Review and assessment of current dairy production, transportation, processing and distribution practices to identify an efficient and cost-effective mitigation strategies at each level of the value-chain and
2) Qualitative and quantitative assessments of milk and dairy products for presence of microbiological hazards (Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella and Coliform / E. coli) at multiple levels of the dairy value-chain (farm, collection, cooperatives/unions, processing, and retail)
3) Develop training modules and deliver education/ research method programs to increase the capacity of food safety management and FBP testing within the milk value-chain actors and Ethiopian stakeholder institutions
The project was planned and proposed to be implemented through four major stages or phases to accomplish the above objectives.
