Effectiveness and cost of an incentive-based intervention on food safety and income in "dibiteries" in Dakar, Senegal.

BACKGROUND: Rapid urbanisation in Sub-Saharan African cities such as Dakar, Senegal, leads to proliferation of informal braised meat restaurants known as "dibiteries". Dibiteries do not often comply with minimal hygiene and food safety standards. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and cost of a good hygiene practice intervention, identify factors that incentivize hygiene improvement and how that impacts on dibiteries' income. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was carried out in Dakar dibiteries. The 120 random samples of braised meat were collected in three phases: (i) one-month pre-intervention, (ii) 2 months post-intervention, (iii) 10 months post-intervention. The trial comprised four groups of 10 dibiteries each: (a) (control) received no intervention, (b) a standardized training module, (c) a hygiene kit, (d) a training module and hygiene kit. Laboratory analysis of samples determined the total aerobic mesophilic flora (TAMF), thermotolerant coliforms (TC) and Staphylococcus aureus (SA). A questionnaire-based survey and focus group discussion were used to identify pre-intervention hygiene practices, and socioeconomic determinants of hygiene management in dibiteries post-intervention, respectively. RESULTS: Samples were found to be contaminated with TAMF, TC and SA. In phase 1, 27 and 13% of the samples contained TC and SA, respectively. In phase 2, no significant improvement of contamination rates was seen. In phase 3, microbiological quality of samples was significantly improved, with only 11.5% showing contamination with any of the bacterial species analysed (p < 0.1). Compared to the control group, only samples from dibiteries in group (b) had significantly reduced bacterial load in phase 3. The cost of intervention and hygiene improvement was estimated at 67 FCFA ($ 0.12) and 41 FCFA ($ 0.07) / day respectively and did not significantly impact on dibiterie profitability. Incentives to sustainably implement good hygiene practices were mainly linked to access to secure long-term workspaces. CONCLUSION: This intervention may have worked, but globally the results are mixed and not quite significant. However, continuous training in good hygiene practice and access to secure and sustainable infrastructure for dibiterie restaurants are the incentives necessary to achieve sustainable investments and behavioural change. We recommend further intervention refinement and testing other factors for promoting the adoption of good hygiene practices in the dibiteries in relation to consumers health risk.

Understanding the Relationships Between the Consumer Perception on Food Risks, Quality, and Safety Indicators of Braised Meat Sold in "Dibiterie" Restaurants in Dakar, Senegal.

Dibiteries are restaurants that sell braised meat of small ruminants and sometimes chicken. Current microbiological data indicate that the products sold are sometimes contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms exceeding the quality standards recommended for human consumption, hence a real public health concern. Despite the lack of hygiene, these establishments continue to thrive in the Senegalese food ecosystem. However, very few studies have analyzed the socio-economic motivations and risk representations of these populations who participate in the growing demand for meat from dibiteries. The main objective is to understand the relationships between consumer perception of food risks, quality, and safety indicators of braised meat sold in Dibiteries in Dakar. A total of 479 people from 404 households in the Dakar region were randomly selected and surveyed on the consumption of dibiterie meat using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire allowed to measure the relative importance given by each interviewee to the indicators related to the risk of food infection, and the quality and safety of dibiterie meat. The structural equation model was used to design the paths and analyze the relationships. Of the 479 people interviewed, 291 people consumed dibiterie meat. Only 16% of consumers strongly perceive the quality and safety of meat. This strong perception has been positively associated with monthly food expenditure, while the age of consumers explained it negatively. Among the latent variables identified, the perceived price effect and the dibiteries' expertise were positively related to the perception on the safety and the perception on the nutritional quality of the product. The nutritional quality of the product had negatively impacted the risks of food infection perceived by consumers. The results of this study suggest the strengthening of hygiene standards in dibiteries and the awareness of consumers, especially young people, about the potential health risks associated with the consumption of dibiterie meat. Further work on willingness to pay to improve the safety of dibiterie meat is needed.

Typology, technical efficiency and scale economy of dibiteries in Dakar, Senegal.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, a profound transformation has been observed in the eating habits of the populations of African cities, induced by accelerated socioeconomic and demographic growth. In Senegal, these changes have manifested in the proliferation of collective informal catering enterprises, such as the ' dibiteries', where the roasted meat of sheep is prepared and sold. The rise of the average household income has contributed substantially to increasing levels of meat consumption, leading to the expansion of the dibiteries. The purpose of the current work was to evaluate the managerial performance of these establishments in Dakar, Senegal. METHODS: To achieve this, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 163 dibiteries using a questionnaire. Efficiency scores were determined via the data envelopment analysis method. The pure technical scores thereby obtained were subsequently used as dependent variables in a Tobit model to identify the socioeconomic determinants of dibiterie efficiency. RESULTS: The resulting average score of the dibiteries suggests that the majority are operating inefficiently (79.6%). Moreover, it was demonstrated that this inefficiency seems to be related to scale rather than technical issues. However, few of the dibiteries assessed (20.4%) were nevertheless in a situation of constant scale economy. Among the socioeconomic variables tested, experience, leadership (family or individual-run), the ownership status of the restaurant building (own or lease) and the type of workforce (family, recruited, mixed or without) had a significant impact on the efficiency of the establishments. CONCLUSIONS: The scale economy and waste reduction in food production can result in economic gains that can in turn be used in the safety of finished products. Indeed, by following best practices, dibiteries can make gains which could be used to invest in good hygiene practices on handwashing, cleaning and disinfecting grilling tools, optimizing work space and training staff.