Quality Management in Dairy Processing: Experimentation of a Common Approach to Develop Guides on Good Hygiene Practices in Senegal and Burkina Faso

Abstract

After the failure of several industrial dairies, small-scale dairy processing in West Africa is developing. It helps to promote local production and meet the needs and expectations of actors. However, the success of these new small dairies depends on better quality control in these enterprises. Guides to good hygiene practices in dairy processing were elaborated in Senegal and Burkina Faso; the elaboration process was based on consultation among professionals and government services, with the collaboration of other institutional actors (laboratories, research, development, standards, consumers), all brought together to form a monitoring committee. The guides were elaborated in a series of stages validated by the monitoring committee, which provided general guidance for the study. The discussions made it possible to address the weakness of data on sanitary risks, and the necessary changes in regulations, standards and practices implemented by actors in the commodity chain. During the process of elaborating a certain number of suitable procedures and practices that the actors can apply, the viewpoints of experts and actors in the field were taken into account. If such guides are to contribute effectively to creating an environment conducive to the development of the value chain, they must be widely distributed and transposed into informative materials and training tools for all actors in the dairy value chain, support organizations, and government agencies. Reflection is also needed on how their application can provide professionals with quality recognition, such as through the creation of a collective commercial brand or labels.