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.
