Florence Fonteh

Quality and Safety of Beef Produced in Central African Sub-Region

Aim of this research is to provide a general situation of cattle slaughtered in Cameroon, as a representative example for the Central African Sub-region. The quality and safety of beef from the abattoir of Yaoundé, the largest in Cameroon, were considered. From January 2009 to March 2012, the pre-slaughter conditions and characteristics of 1953 cattle carcasses were recorded, as well as the pH of m. longissimus thoracis 24 h after slaughter. From these carcasses, 60 were selected to represent the bulls slaughtered. The quality parameters and composition of m. longissimus thoracis were carried out. The origin of most of the cattle was the Guinea High Savannah (74.6%), and transhumance was the common production system (75.5%). Gudali (45.6%), White Fulani (33.3%) and Red Mbororo (20.3%) breeds were predominant. Carcass weight was affected by rearing system and cattle category, and it markedly varied during year. Considering meat quality, the fat content was low (1.2%) and similar between breeds, moreover Gudali showed the toughest meat. Of the cows slaughtered, 27% were pregnant and the most common abnormal conditions encountered were ectoparasites, fatigue, lameness, fungal-like skin lesions, enlarged lymph nodes, respiratory distress, nodular lesions. More than 20% of the carcasses had some organs condemned, mainly for liver flukes (5.17%), and 1.0% of them were completely condemned due to tuberculosis, that also affected 3.28% of lungs. These data could aid authorities draw up programmes with the aim to strengthen cattle production, improve beef supply, control and prevent the observed diseases, and promote the regional trade.

Bobbi Be Best: the development and evaluation of an audio program and discussion guide to promote exclusive breastfeeding in Cameroon, Central Africa.

One risk factor for infant and childhood morbidity is not exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) during the first six months of life. Entertainment Education (EE) is a communication strategy consisting of placing educational information into television, movies, and radio programs. In developing countries this form of behavioral change communication has proven effective in addressing health-related issues; however, no research has determined if EE is effective in promoting EBF. The objective of this research was to develop an EE audio program and discussion guide and to determine if a series of four 15-minute episodes and post-listening discussion improved knowledge, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, and intention and decreased misconceptions and perceived barriers toward EBF in the Kumbo West Health District, Cameroon. Pregnant women and their partners were assigned to either the control group (N = 116; 74 women, 42 partners) or intervention group (N = 148; 99 women, 49 partners) based on expected date of delivery. All control and intervention group participants completed a questionnaire prior to listening to the first and after the last episode. Pre- and post-listening questionnaires were used to determine changes in the EBF knowledge, misconceptions, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and intention variables as a result of exposure to the audio program. The Wilcoxon Sign Rank test showed significant improvement in all of the variables, except perceived barriers, within the intervention group (p < 0.05) and the Mann–Whitney test indicated significant differences between the control and intervention group in all of the variables (p < 0.05), indicating that using an audio program and discussion guide based on the EE model is an effective tool for promoting EBF in this setting. The strength of this approach is that it goes beyond simply telling women about what constitutes EBF, but addresses misconceptions and perceived barriers that may prevent women from practicing EBF for six months.