Towards Food Safety: Hand Washing and Environmental Hygiene Practices of Farming Households in North-Central Nigeria

Year 2017, Volume: 34 Issue: 2, 98 - 107, 09.09.2017

Gbolagade Benjamin Adesıjı Ibrahim Salihu Tyabo Mohammed Ibrahım Haruna Muhammad Usman Sola Emmanuel Komolafe

https://doi.org/10.13002/jafag1123

Abstract

In recent times, the potential of good health status of farmers in improving the agricultural productivity had been a concern hence, this study examined the hand washing and environmental hygiene practices for food safety among farming households in North-Central Nigeria. Five-stage random sampling technique was employed to select 256 farming households for the study. Interview schedule was used to elicit data from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, charts, mean score and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The result of the study shows that respondents mean age was 37years. The average number of respondents’ visits to health service workers was 3 times/per annum. Majority (73.8%) of the respondents are aware of the need to always wash hands after using the toilet. There is low knowledge on the use soap/ash to wash hand before eating (36.3%), preparing food/cooking (20.3%), changing baby’s wear (24.2%), after defecating (19.1%) and before feeding children (18.40%). Majority of the respondents got their water for household purposes from dug well (57%) and bore holes (52%). Majority (84%) treat their water by allowing it to stand and settle before use. The use of bush (41.8%) and pit latrine (41.4%) are the major means of defecation. Household wastes were mostly dump in a nearby bush (mean=2.51). Pearson product moment correlation analysis shows that age (r=0.538, p< 0.05), level of education (r=0.398, p<0.05) and number of contacts with community health service workers (r=0.402, p<0.05) were positive and significantly related to farmers households’ knowledge of hand-washing and environmental hygiene practices. The study concluded that respondents were aware of the need to wash hands as food safety measure mostly before and after eating food and after defecating. It is recommended that government and other concern agencies should intensify effort in programmes that promotes food safety practices and sensitize farming households in the study area on the important of hand-washing most especially after cleaning/changing baby wears and before preparing food/cooking.

Keywords

Knowledge, hand washing, sources of water, waste disposal

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