Heifer cows grazing in Gulu. Photo by Simon Wokorach
By Simon Wokorach
Gulu: The state minister for Northern Uganda has banned procurement and supply of Friesian breeds of cattle to northern Uganda under the livestock restocking program.
Dr. Kenenth Omona observed that restocking northern Uganda with new breeds of cattle especially Friesian was a waste of government resources since the animals failed to adapt to the region.
The Minister disclosed that the animals supplied in the past all died due to high temperatures in the region, something he said could have been detected much earlier to avoid waste of government resources.
He however noted that the government has banned importing or supplying cattle from other parts of the Country to the north because of their low survival rate in the region.
“If there is any program to restock the north then the animals should be procured from within and this is for both private actors who want to support our people and the government” Dr. Omona decreed.
He also blamed extension workers from the region for failing to direct farmers on good farming practices as well as guiding them on crop enterprise selection for good yields.
“The greater percentage of these animals died and if there is any government intervention that would want to give cattle to the people of northern Uganda then we wouldn’t want to make the same mistake… people can’t even fend for themselves but why do you bring animals which are very expensive and delicate to manage….” Dr Omona observed.
He further explained that farming is very expensive and once farmers are not directed, they will make losses and abandon it yet the government is focusing on agriculture to transform this Country.
“Our people must learn to feel wealth, they must learn to touch wealth and must learn to create wealth but they can’t do much without extension services,” Dr. Omona further noted.
Northern Uganda lost considerable herds of cattle during the over two decades’ war to cattle rustlers, fighting forces of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) and Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF).
However, the government earmarked 20 billion shillings under the Peace Recovery and Development Program for Northern Uganda (PRDP) in 2014 for restocking in West Nile, Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
The recovery project targeted former abductees of LRA, orphans, child-headed families, widows and the elderly persons.
Acholi sub region was allocated 5 billion shillings for the implementation of the project in which each district allocated 500 million shillings under the office of the Prime Minister.
How it all went down
Winney Ajalo, an extension worker with Gulu Country Dairy Farm revealed that all Friesian cattle they supplied cooperative farmers in Acholi sub-region have all died.
Although she did not give statistics of the animals, she noted that all the Friesians died and less than 20% of heifers supplied under the same program survived.
She explained that both Friesian and heifer breeds are suitable to manage in cool temperature ranging from 13 degree celsius to 25 degree celsius.
She noted that the breeds have poor heat regulating mechanisms due to their large body size and high feed intake which cannot be easily supported in the region with its high temperatures.
With the average temperature of the region ranging from 20 degree celsius to 37 degree celsius, she noted that the breeds are susceptible to diseases of cardiovascular systems.
The animals, according to her, presented with congestive heart failure and high stress levels arising from extreme heat notably between December and March.
“While some died due to tick borne diseases, others died due to poor nutrition,” she explained.
Ajalo said about 200 dairy farmers in the region are currently arranged under five big cooperatives in the region and are being trained on dairy farming and livestock management.
“We have a cooperative in Pader which has established huge pasture lands, (the elephant grass) and we expect others to do the same to improve on the nutrition of these animals” She added.
Jennifer Akello, a dairy farmer from Omoro District in Koro Sub-County noted that 3 of her heifer cows have died after she spent 3 million shillings to buy each.
Farmer counts losses
Akello explained that before they died in 2022, she had spent millions of shillings trying to inseminate them but none of them conceived as she suffered a huge loss in maintaining them for three years.
“Each artificial insemination would cost me 90,000 shillings but none gave birth. Veterinary services every three weeks would cost me 60,000 leave alone feeding them,” Akello narrated.
State of livestock farming in the country
Alfred Opiyo, the Veterinary Officer for Gulu district said inadequate number of Veterinary doctors at local government pose a significant challenge in livestock farming.
“The ratio to farmers and extension workers is too much yet each veterinary officer is to handle only 500 animals but they have to go beyond 1,800 which needs to be addressed,” he stated.
The Uganda cattle corridors extend from South-West through Central to North-East parts of the Country according to the 2021 Uganda National Livestock Census.
The Census reports present an increase of 27.2% in the cattle production between 2008 and 2021 with 6.8 million households keeping at least one type of livestock.
The number of cattle rose from 11. 4 million to 14. 5 million by 2021 but 50% of the households are keeping the cattle for subsistence purposes according to the report.
The indigenous breeds rose from 10.6 million in 2008 to 11. 2 million in 2021 while exotic breeds moved from 700,000 in 2008 to 3.3 million in 2021 with 93.6% of the cattle in the Country being local breeds.
The sub-regional distribution of cattle puts Karamoja with the highest number of cattle at 2.4 million representing 16.7% while Ankole comes second with 1.8 million accounting for 12.4 %.
Buganda and North with 1.6 million each representing 11% while the lowest number of cattle are from Kigezi with 305,000 standing at 2.1% and Bukedi with 469,000, accounting for 3.2 % .
