Food Protection Trends - September/October 2021 - 493

TABLE 5. Knowledge of participants before (pretest) and immediately after (posttest)
the delivery of the Food Safety Laboratory Workshop
Pretest
Location of activity
Ethiopia
Uganda
Mozambique
Average
55.37 Ba
44.33 B
57.22 B
SD
14.06
9.03
9.19
aDifferent letters (A and B) within a row shows statistically significant data (P ≤ 0.05).
questions (Table 6) were evaluated by using a 5-point Likert
scale, with the opportunity to answer, " I do not know. "
More than half of the participants (70% in Uganda, 80% in
Mozambique, and 58% in Ethiopia) strongly agreed that GLP
affect the quality of the tests they conduct in the facilities;
by the end of the training, most participants strongly agreed
with this statement (100% in Uganda, 82% in Mozambique,
and 72% in Ethiopia). For questions, such as the effect of
protective coverings (e.g., lab coats, shoe coverings, and
gloves) on the impact of quality in laboratory testing,
participant responses were different for each country. After
the program, participants from Mozambique " strongly "
believe (85%) that protective coverings have some impact;
however, the responses from the Ugandan (55%) and
Ethiopian (41%) participants were less encouraging when
compared with Mozambican participants. As a result of
the workshop, participants also strongly agreed with the
importance of " quality management systems " (e.g., ISO/IEC
17025), with 80, 70, and 53% in agreement before in Uganda,
Mozambique, and Ethiopia and 100, 91, and 67% afterwards,
respectively. Similar responses were observed for equipment
calibration: participants from Uganda and Mozambique
agreed or strongly agreed (100%) to the process, except for
the participants from Ethiopia (89%). Likewise, participants
clearly understand the importance of training (70% before);
however, interest grew because of the workshop (90%), with
many wishing to participate in similar types of training in the
future. Similarly, participants strongly agreed on the value
of lab work and its economic impact for their country, the
region, and the world.
The attitude of participants before and after the program
is reported in Table 7. Similar to behavioral questions,
attitudinal questions were asked on a 5-point Likert scale,
including " I do not know. " Questions asked were related
to general food safety practices, implementation, policies,
inspection, and training. Before the program, 69% of the
participants in Ethiopia, 80% in Uganda, and 100% in
Mozambique agreed or strongly agreed on the effect of
knowledge on SOP and the impact on the quality of the
tests being conducted. After the program, agreed and
strongly agreed responses increased to 100% in Uganda.
Ethiopian participants also increased agreement to 95%
after the program. The Mozambique participant responses
remained the same throughout the workshop (100%).
Likewise, participant responses on training-related
statements were evaluated. When asked if " this food testing
laboratory has a responsibility to train individuals working
in this lab on standard operating procedures, " participant
agreements increased from 90 to 100% in Uganda and 56
to 80% in Mozambique, while the Ethiopians responses
remained the same (79%) before and after the training.
There were participants who did not provide an opinion
related to " written SOP, good manufacturing practices
(GMP) are equally important for the best results " in
Uganda (10%) and Ethiopia (5%). After the delivery of the
program, the strongly agreed responses for this statement
increased from 90 to 100% in Uganda and 79 to 89%
in Ethiopia. In Mozambique, 100% of the participants
strongly agreed or agreed with the statement before and
after the program. Initially, Ethiopians did not agree with
the importance of local, regional, state or governmental
regulations to keep food safe (5%), but after the training,
100% strongly agreed. Participants from other countries
responded similarly after the program. Likewise, most
participants' attitudes toward the role of different agencies
on certification of testing methods increased after the
program: 90 to 100% in Uganda and from 84 to 90% in
Ethiopia. However, Mozambicans agreed 100% before and
after the program.
Another training program conducted in Africa (13) also
demonstrated the positive effects of a training program on
participants' good hygiene practices. To observe constant improved
behavior and attitudes, training programs should be
conducted continuously and be incorporated with a competency-based
training curriculum framework (10) for food and
feed testing laboratory personnel. This type of framework can
serve as professional development by encouraging laboratory
personnel participation in trainings. Finally, establishing
September/October Food Protection Trends 493
Average
63.52 A
63.94 A
73.33 A
Posttest
SD
9.67
6.47
15.13

Food Protection Trends - September/October 2021

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