Electronic Identification of Cattle: Traceability for Food Safety in Madagascar

International audience The cattle are one of the riches that make the Malagasy people famous, it intervenes in their daily life whether cultural, social or economic. However, due to a lack of traceability, several shortfalls are to be deplored in this sector, including the export of meat to European markets. This document presents the development of an electronic cattle identification system in order to control the sanitary traceability of products from cattle breeding for food safety. This system uses an electronic chip in the form of a ruminal bolus that works by low-frequency radio waves. To do this, about 600 cattle from the FOFIFA station in Kianjasoa, Madagascar, were identified using the electronic boluses and then monitored monthly to determine the retention rate of the identification system. At the same time, all information about each identified animal was collected, over time, to be transcribed and centralized in the LASER database. This makes it possible, on the one hand, to trace the product back to its original rearing in the event of a dispute and, on the other hand, to determine certain zootechnical parameters indicative of the breeding. For example, thanks to this tool, the annual growth rate of the identified herds was calculated at about 30%. This data seems essential to us in order to be able to estimate the demographic evolution of the workforce as well as the quantity of cattle meat to be exported while preserving the current number of livestock. During the first three years of cattle monitoring, the application of boluses showed no particular incident. This identification system could obtain approval from the International Committee on Animal Identification, as an annual retention rate of 100% was recorded during the study. In addition, this device impossible to falsify will make it possible to considerably reduce the theft of cattle in Madagascar. Thus, traceability, beyond the bond of trust established with consumers, is an important factor in enhancing the value chain and economic recovery of the beef sector in Madagascar.