A qualitative study of salt production in the Kinniya Saltern: technical and socioeconomic insights

Abstract

The socioeconomic conditions of salt farmers influence the salt production, which consequently affect the quality of the salt produced. Hence, this study investigated the and socioeconomic aspects of salt production in the Kinniya saltern. Thirty-one salt farmers were interviewed face to face using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The results show that a higher proportion (49%) of the salt farmers were poorly educated, thus resulted engaging in small scale operation to sustain their livelihood. The salt farmers used 3-step (87%) and 2-step (17%) traditional methods. The farmers mainly used mechanical pumps in bringing feed water out of a lagoon system that could be contaminated by the anthropogenic activities. The production capacity was 250 kg per harvest and the annual estimated production was less than 7.5 tons per year. The quality of the salt was primarily determined with the indicators of visual inspection, color changed. The produced salt was mostly used in production of dry fish (100%), animal hide processing (48%) and in some instances human consumption (45%). The study concludes that the socioeconomic conditions of salt farmers, the production methods they use, and the quality of salt produced are closely interconnected. This suggests that improving farmers' socioeconomic conditions is essential for enhancing the production process and overall salt quality. The study also highlights the necessity of technical training, establishment of standard production procedures, and quality control mechanism to enhance efficient and safety salt production applications at the Kinniya saltern.