Albanian j. agric. sci. 2018;17 (4): 187-196 Agricultural University of Tirana *Corresponding author: Ylli Biçoku; E-mail: ybicoku@ubt.edu.al (Accepted for publication December 12, 2018) ISSN: 2218-2020, © Agricultural University of Tirana RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access) Awareness about Livestock Standards - the Case of Dairy Farmers Albania and Kosovo YLLI BIÇOKU 1* , MEDIN ZEQIRI 2 , GRIGOR GJEÇI 3 1 Department of Animal Production, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana - Albania 2 Food Sciense and Biotechnology UBT, Lagja Kalabria ,10000 Prishtinë Kosovo 3 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Tirana - Albania. Abstract The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the farmers’ awareness about food safety standards. We are focused on farmers’ awareness about food safety institutional framework, animal disease, and national food safety standards. A total of 144 dairy farmers in two regions of Albania, and 150 ones in two regions of Kosovo, with more than four cows per farm, were interviewed according to a questionnaire assessing the farmers’ general knowledge about animal diseases, as well as preventive farm practices with regard to food safety. In both countries about 87% of the respondents state that they have no cooling tank for storing the milk, which is a prerequisite for attaining milk safety and quality standards. A considerable number of farmers (52.7% in Albania and 44.6% in Kosovo) are not aware about the institutions in charge of food safety and animal health control. About 1/3 of the farmers in Albania and 11.3% in Kosovo stated that they never or rarely use ear tags to identify their livestock animals. In addition most farmers ’ state that they do not know symptoms of the Brucellosis (59.7% in Albania and 71.3% in Kosovo) and TBC (64.6% in Albania and 68.6% in Kosovo), indicating the low awareness level among farmers about animal diseases and food safety. Extension and Veterinary Services must plan awareness, teaching and training programs for dairy farmers to improve safety standards at farm level. In addition public and donors support schemes for farmers should be strongly linked to food safety standard implementation Keywords: Dairy farms, veterinary service, advisory system, food safety, animal register, and animal diseases. 1. Introduction 1.1 Sector background Agriculture sector is the one of the most important sectors of the Albanian and Kosovo economy. Both countries continue to be predominantly rural economies with 20 percent of the GDP generated by agriculture in Albania, and 12 percent in Kosovo. Agriculture is also the largest employing sector, accounting for it employs more than 40 percent of the active force in Albania and approximately 35 percent in Kosovo. Generally, livestock production is seen as a backbone of Albania's agriculture. Livestock sector in general, and dairy sector specifically have been considered priority sector by the government [19]. The cattle sector is one of the most important sub-sectors in agriculture since it provides 86 percent of milk and 47 percent of meat production [18, 19]. Cattle breeding include mostly the dairy cattle husbandry since there is not yet any specialized beef cattle production, so meat is obtained from the dairy farms. Farm level - dairy and beef production is characterized by small-scale farming system. Many small farms continue to produce in the traditional ways and market the products through informal channels. The number of cows is approximately 354 000, and one farm family as average is managing 2.32 cattle or 1.67 cows [4]. Cow milk production is 983 000 ton, but only ½ of the production reach the markets while the other half is used for consumption, consumption by animals or processed on the farm. Of all cow milk produced, only 11.2% (110 000 tons) is processed by the dairy industry [17]. The remaining 38.8% (381 000 ton) reaches consumers directly. In Kosovo livestock production is the most profitable activity and is of economic importance, and cattle milk dominates raw milk production. According Kosovo Agency of Statistics, the cattle fund is approximately