As more Nigerians are getting conscious of their health, security and safety during this scary time, farmers, as well as stakeholders in the agricultural sector and marketing experts, are shifting to online sales.
This appears to be the right option, as more people are working remotely and choosing to stay indoors, as it is becoming mandatory to survive in this trying period.
One of the sub-sectors that now enjoy innovations is the meat value chain. Ground checks revealed that a good number of online meat markets have sprung up in the last three months. Investigations showed that the meat dealers do not only enjoy patronage but also expand their reach as more people key into the initiative.
But as good and laudable the initiative is, one area that is of major concern to meat lovers and health experts are hygiene and wholesomeness of the beef, as buyers only receive the processed meat, but lack access to verify the state of the animal and processing facilities, handling and transportation.
According to health experts and veterinary doctors, the concerns become imperative following mounting cases of zoonotic diseases that are linked to the consumption of unwholesome meats.
from experts that apart from tuberculosis and other common diseases transmitted to humans from animals, cases of typhoid fever, malaria parasite and chronic fever have been attributed to consumption of unwholesome and unsafe meat.
From investigations, the problem appears to be in two phases: poor approach of supervising agencies and ramshackle state of slaughter facilities.
As good as the meat business is, it is plagued with value chain challenges, from cattle merchants through the slaughters, to the consumers. And with the ever-increasing number of the meat-selling social media platforms, serious concerns are mounting on the safety of the meat.
Since most of the sellers operate on private slaughters, the common concern revolves around how hygienic are the abattoirs/slaughters? Is antemortem examination always carried out on the animals by certified health experts before slaughtering? Is post-mortem examination always performed after slaughtering? Who ascertains the meat wholesomeness? Were the slaughters licensed?
While the antemortem examination is to ensure that the animal is rested and observed for possible physical and health-related anomalies that could render them unfit for slaughter, a post-mortem is conducted after slaughtering the animal. Here, various internal and external organs are closely observed for any sign of bacteria or viral loads beyond acceptable levels, especially for diseases of zoonotic importance.
One of the meat vendors, Menitos Farm Depot, said that law in Lagos State requires all vendors to use licensed abattoirs for processing.
