PPP : An Appraisal of Efficiency , Effectiveness and Success in the Meat Sector in States Recovering from Civil Instability : A Case Study of North Western Somalia

Somalia as a region continues to undergo a serious and complex emergency since the fall of a central government in 1991 as a result of civil war. Somaliland has made limited progress towards establishing democratic processes and building institutions that are offering basic services to its citizens. However, these gains are still fragile as the self declared independent state from Somalia in 1991 is still on a slaw path of recovery.


Introduction
Somalia as a region continues to undergo a serious and complex emergency since the fall of a central government in 1991 as a result of civil war. Somaliland has made limited progress towards establishing democratic processes and building institutions that are offering basic services to its citizens. However, these gains are still fragile as the self declared independent state from Somalia in 1991 is still on a slaw path of recovery.
Meat production facilities managed by companies established through Public-private partnership (PPP) offer services that are worthy value for money for meat consumers. Public-private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP or P3.
It involves a contract between a public-sector authority and a private party, in which the private party provides a public service or project and assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risk in the project. In some types of PPP, the cost of using the service is borne exclusively by the users of the service and not by the taxpayer. Adoption and operationalization of PPP principles has a number of advantages which include among others Ensuring sustainability of programs such as meat sector enterprises by enhancing the skills and capacities of stakeholders, and by increasing the public's access to the unique expertise and core competencies of the private sector [1].
Facilitating scale-up of proven, cost-effective interventions through private sector networks and associations enabling consumers to get value for their money.
Expanding the reach of interventions by accessing target populations in their milieu like ensuring close collaboration between the government agencies to ensure centralized livestock slaughter in hygienic slaughter facilities for consumers to get wholesome and high quality meat.
Sharing application of compliance with hygiene practices costs and promoting synergy in programs.
The PPPs enable the Government and private meat sector stakeholders to maximize their efforts through jointly-defined objectives, program design and implementation. These mutuallybeneficial arrangements enhance local capacity to deliver high-quality food safety production services tailored at applying food quality assurance programmes of good hygiene practices, sanitary standard ! . operating procedures and generic hazard analysis critical control point systems at local meat production facilities. These efforts leverage the core competencies of the meat sector stakeholders to multiply the impact of good service delivery.

E T H I O P I A E T H I O P I
Food safety is a global concern, not only because of the importance for public health, but also because of its impact on international trade. Globalization of food production and procurement makes food chains longer and more complex and increases the risk of food safety incidents. Effective and harmonized food safety systems shall manage and ensure the safety and suitability of food in each link of the supply chain [2].
To ensure food safety for consumers, high standards of management is crucial since meat is traditionally an important source of a range of bacterial pathogens including Salmonella species, E. coli O157, Campylobacter species and Listeria which represent a significant threat to public health if not produced and processed in a hygienic manner [3,4]. To mitigate this potential public health hazards transmitted through meat, policy decisions in fragile states recovering from civil wars must consider social science factors including ideologies, economics and public opinion through establishment of publicprivate partnership for effective and efficient management of livestock slaughter facilities to guarantee the public of wholesome and suitable meat. Hence, the aetiology of animal health and meat safety policy is multifactorial for effective, efficient and sustainable management [5].
Applying meat food safety standards and principles to public health hazards prevention requires consideration of social issues such as attitudes toward meat producing animals and slaughter facilities, cultural and religious mores, and individuals' willingness and capability to adopt and comply with prevention practices of good hygiene practices and strategies throughout the meat production chain [5].
It is imperative that governments, the private and public sectors, consumers and other meat sector stakeholders work in a concerted and synergistic manner in this shared responsibility of assuring meat safety from farm-to-fork. Cooperation and linkages at the national, sub-regional, regional and international levels provide opportunities for synergy and maximized benefits for improved human health and economic development both at local and export levels [6]. This paper objectively appraises the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of public-private partnership in the management of local meat production facilities in Somaliland to guarantee consumers of high quality meat with low levels of contamination with pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms.

Study site
The study was carried out for a period of one year in North Western (Somaliland) state of the expansive republic of Somalia. The facilities selected for the study were Hargeisa slaughterhouse which is managed through public-private partnership and Berbera slaughterhouse that is managed by the municipality (local government) and by extension the government. The two facilities were selected based on convenience, ready accessibility and the way each is managed looking at the initial facilities and equipments that were available before Hargeisa slaughterhouse changed management from public to public-private partnership.

Data collection
This involved both qualitative and quantitative data collection methodologies.
Methodology involved reviewing of secondary data in FAO's data base, field visits and application of semi-structured questionnaire with meat sector stakeholders in the two slaughterhouses. The survey involved key informant discussions with slaughterhouse management personnel and in-depth interviews with line ministry of livestock and municipality personnel where the selected slaughterhouses were located. This was followed by visual appraisal of livestock slaughter practices by meat producers and available livestock slaughter equipments, tools, meat transport modalities, compliance with hygiene meat handling practices during slaughter by abattoir workers and condition and state of maintenance of each slaughterhouse. Furthermore, 160 carcasses slaughtered in the two slaughterhouses were randomly selected for surface swab samples collection for microbiological analysis in Analabs laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya within 24-48 hours of sampling.

Carcass swab sampling
Eighty (80) freshly slaughtered carcasses of small ruminants (sheep and goats) were randomly selected for sampling from each of the two selected local slaughterhouses using wet non-absorbent cotton wool dipped in 0.1% peptone water diluent followed by a dry swab in the same area delineated by an aluminium template. An area of 50 cm 2 was delineated in the neck region of each randomly selected carcass by a sterilized aluminium template for swabbing [1,7,8]. Repeat swabbing in the same area was done using dry cotton wool. Both wet and dry cotton wool swabs were immediately placed in one sample bottle containing 5 ml of 0.1% peptone water. The bottles were immediately placed in a cool box containing dry ice and transported to Analabs laboratories in Nairobi, Kenya for analysis. A total of 160 samples were collected from the two slaughterhouses.

Laboratory analysis
All the samples were analyzed within 24-48 hours of sampling against total viable counts, total coliforms count and presence of Salmonella species.

Total viable counts (TVC)
Each of the 160 carcass swab sample was mixed thoroughly using a vortex mixer to homogenize. This was followed by serial dilutions of each sample before plating in tenfold step in 0.1% of buffered peptone water upto 10 -4 for total viable counts. One (1) ml of each dilution was transferred to a sterilized 90 mm diameter petri dish that had been earlier marked. Ten-fifteen (10-15) ml of plate count agar (PCA) tempered at 45-46 0 C was poured into each of the labelled 4 petri dish plates. Each plate was swirled in figure 8 to mix. The plates were incubated at 37 0 C for 24 hours. Plates that had 300 or less colony forming units (cfu) were selected for colony enumeration using a colony counter. The total number of colonies was determined by multiplying the enumerated colonies with the dilution factor of each plate. An average count for each dilution was determined before averaging the 2 dilution counts that were in close range to obtain total viable counts. The counts were divided by the total surface area of swabbing per carcass to give the cfu/ cm 2 [8,9].

Total coliforms count
Total coliforms count was estimated using the Most Probable Numbers (MPN) index and 95% confidence limits for various combinations of positive results when various numbers of tubes were used. A serial 10-fold dilution of each sample homogenate was used in a 3-tube MPN series (Inocula of 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001). Serial tenfold dilution in 0.1% buffered peptone water was prepared up to 10 -3 as per the anticipated coliforms density. One (1) ml aliquot of each dilution was transferred to each of the 3 tubes containing Lauryl Tryptose broth and inverted Durham tubes. The tubes were incubated at 37 0 C for 24 hours. Gas production which collected in Durham tubes and increased turbidity of the broth was indicative of a positive test for total coliforms. The MPN technique was used at this level to estimate the density of total coliforms in each sample. The combination acquired or generated was used to interpret the number of viable coliforms in each sample using the MPN table [8][9][10].

Isolation of salmonella species
Salmonella species isolation involved initial use of enrichment media of Selenite Cystine (SC) and Tetrathionate (TT) broths. One (1) ml of mixed swab sample was inoculated in 9 ml of each enrichment broths and incubated at 37 0 C for 24 hours. A loopful from each of the enriched overnight broth culture was streaked onto Salmonella selective media; Bismuth Sulphite (BS) agar and Xylose Lysine Desoxycholate agar (XLD) and incubated at 37 0 C for 24 hours. Typical salmonella species were checked for after the incubation period. Any culture that could have had colonies appearing as brown, gray, black or sometimes as metallic sheen on BS or as pink colonies with or without black centres on XLD could have been indicative of presence of Salmonella species [9].

The questionnaire administration
The immediate personnel in-charge of the two identified slaughterhouses i.e. the manager of Maandeeq Company that manages Hargeisa slaughterhouse and the supervisor of Berbera local slaughterhouse were interviewed. The questions were administered in English and translated to Somali language by the local veterinarian (Dr Abdullahi Rabile Goad) since the respondents had limited knowledge of English. To maintain consistence, most of the questions were designed in a closed format. In cases where the set of expected responses was deemed not exhaustive, an option for "others: please specify" was provided [11]. Further verification of the responses was done by visitation to the slaughterhouses and carried out visual appraisal and organoleptic inspection of the slaughterhouse structures, livestock slaughter equipments, tools, availability and use of protective gear and meat transport methodologies during the wee hours of slaughter processes.
The questions were designed to identify the support derived from the government, the company established through PPP process, how funds are raised, challenges being incurred and solutions and the way forward of how to improve in the management style. Table 1 shows staff establishment for the privately and publicly managed slaughterhouses. The privately managed facility has well established organogram of duty performance by various cadres of employee's right from the manager to the cleaner and watchman. It has ensured proper management of the facility to ensure efficiency and effectiveness for service delivery, promoting compliance with   hygiene meat handling practices at all levels of production chain giving confidence of value for money to clients.

Daily livestock slaughter
In Somaliland and greater Somalia, livestock species consumed include sheep, goats, camels and cattle. Table 2 details average daily livestock slaughter figures and meat transport costs from the two slaughterhouses during the survey.

Available resources
The company managed Hargeisa slaughterhouse had acquired a number of assets at the time of study as detailed in table 3 below. The slaughterhouse is managed by Maandeeq Company which was established through public-private partnership (PPP) process in May 2005 by two private investors with the support of the government and guidelines from FAO Somalia and other partnership organizations. The individuals put in an initial capital of USD 350,000. The Company started by hiring 4 meat transport trucks and the municipality contributed one water trucking tanker to supply water to the slaughterhouse. The company later placed initial public offer and 18 shareholders bought shares. It went through some teething problems until it incurred a deficit of USD 150,000 approximately. However, it currently (30 th May, 2011) boasts of having a liquid cash capital of about USD 450,000 in bank besides the fixed assets.     appraisal and organoleptic inspection during meat swab samples taking, the investigator established whether the slaughterhouse slaughter operations were compliant with hygiene meat handling standards or not. Out of the 17 meat contamination risk factors sought after, Hargeisa slaughterhouse that is managed through public private partnership observed a compliance rate of 94% and non-compliance rate of only 6%. On the other hand, Berbera slaughter facility managed by the municipality had a non-compliance rate of 76.5% and a compliance rate of 23.5%.

Microbiological laboratory results
Eighty (80) surface meat swab samples were collected from randomly selected small ruminant carcasses slaughtered from each of the two slaughterhouses. A total of 160 surface meat swab samples were collected and analyzed at Analabs laboratories in Nairobi, Kenya for total viable counts (TVC), total coliforms count and Salmonella species.

Data analysis
Total viable counts (TVC) and total coliforms count (TCC) were converted to log 10 colony forming unity/cm 2 (cfu/cm 2 ) to enable grading of bacterial meat contamination levels according to EU Microbiological performance criteria [8]

Total viable counts (TVC)
From the laboratory analysis, out of 80 surface meat swab samples collected and analyzed from each slaughterhouse, 76 (95%) and 4 (5%) samples were of acceptable and marginal grades respectively from Hargeisa slaughterhouse. No sample was of unacceptable grade. On the other hand, no sample from Berbera facility was of acceptable grade. Twenty seven (34%) and 53 (66%) samples were of marginal and unacceptable grades respectively as shown in table 6.

Conclusion
From the one year investigation and microbiological analysis of surface meat swab samples collected from the two slaughterhouses, it was clear that Hargeisa slaughterhouse managed by a company established through PPP process offered a service to meat consumers that was commensurate of value for their money. The meat produced in Hargeisa slaughterhouse had low levels of bacterial contamination as opposed to the publicly managed Berbera slaughterhouse. Users of Hargeisa slaughterhouse pay higher fee per animal slaughtered as compared to those using Berbera slaughterhouse but the service rendered in the former is worth the cost. The company has endeavored to control over 90% of common sources of meat contamination. They even sponsored a training workshop for 20 of their staff in addition to 20 others from the Ministry of Livestock in 2010.
The study concluded that establishment of slaughterhouse management companies through public-private partnership is a good way forward for the effective, efficient and sustainable way of managing meat production facilities in countries recovering from civil conflict though this needs further investigation in other regions.