MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2014)

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Browsing MSIT Theses and Dissertations (2014) by Author "Chebet, Esther"

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    A smart phone based dodel for tracing beef products in Kenya
    (Strathmore University, 2014) Chebet, Esther
    Food traceability has been faced with challenges like lack of records, paper work challenges and lack of rapid response to trace back. Most food safety outbreaks are traceable to the processing or slaughter house but cannot be traced to individual feedlots or ranches. At present, beef products can be traced from retail back to the processor, but not to the producer or animal. In light of recent food safety crises and international trade concerns associated with food or animal associated diseases, traceability has once again become important in the minds of public policy-makers, business decision makers, consumers and special interest groups. This study aims at proposing a mobile Model that can be used to trace beef products from the animal to the distributor/ retailer. Mobile based traceability system takes advantage of the existing telecommunication infrastructure. A mobile Model was developed to be used for data collection to enhance the efficiency of traceability. It traces farming activities by using handheld mobile device to capture information of day to day livestock operations. Each livestock is uniquely identified and details stored on a central database. The frontend service application uses the mobile device while the backend uses a webserver where retailers can access traceable information from a website. The techniques employed in the study was applied research design. This was because the study focused on developing a mobile application to capture a farmers day to day livestock operations. This data is then stored on a central database that is used for the traceability of a particular beef product from farm to the retailer/distributor. Key findings in the research was used for traceability of beef products and this also helped farmers keep records of their livestock. The model was tested through simulation of various modules. 15 participants took part in the exercise. 66.67% of the participants who took part in the exercise received an immediate response on the history of a particular livestock while the remaining 33.33% received the same feedback but with some delay. The Model was therefore successful in tracing a beef product to its origin.