By Trevor Lutalo
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is to embark on a mass animal vaccination campaign in Karamoja after receiving a variety of vaccines from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) on Tuesday at the National Animal Disease Diagnostics and Epidemiology Centre (NADDEC) in Entebbe.
The campaign is set to take shape from October 10, 2023 at the same time with tsetse fly net distribution in a bid to offset trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in the region.
Mr Bright Rwamirama, the State Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries in charge of Animal Industry, said Karamoja is a hotspot for livestock diseases due to the continued pastoralism and porous borders in the northeastern parts of the country.
“We had earlier rolled out a project in Karamoja but the government funds were not sufficient to take care of the entire demand in the area, with FAO’s support we are able to cover a wider scope now. We are doing this because Karamoja has a unique situation, where we still have cattle rustling, where we are still working on mindset change and it is therefore important we protect the national herd, it is a deserving region,” he noted.
With support from the European Union, MAAIF received 140,000 doses of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccines, 110,000 doses of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) vaccine, 300,000 doses of Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) vaccine, 200,000 doses of goat and sheep pox vaccine, 400,000 doses of Pestes des petit ruminants vaccine and 183,000 doses of Anthrax and Black Quarter all worth USD 1 million.
Mr Rwamirama also noted that the vaccines will go a long way in increasing livestock productivity and as well improve the quality of dairy products from the region.
The Minister noted that it is imperative to transboundary livestock diseases head on in order to boost the country’s revenue and as well marketability of our dairy products across different markets. He also revealed that Uganda has set a target to export at least 4,000,000 litres of milk daily by the next financial year 2024/2025.
“We are employing three different avenues to tackle the problem, vaccination is one of them, signing agreements with neighbouring states so as we can implement similar programmes and policies to improve the sector because diseases do not distinguish borders, we have been able to sign agreements with Kenya and Tanzania and a similar agreement is in the pipeline with South Sudan,” he stated.
The Minister lauded FAO’s continued support towards the ministry and the people of Uganda in implementing several programmes over the years.
While handing over the vaccines, the FAO country representative, HE. Antonio Querido said: “The goal of this project is to enhance the resilience of households in Karamoja that experience chronic or acute food insecurity. This will be achieved by strengthening existing early warning systems and increasing the abilities of national and local actors to anticipate, reduce, and respond to shocks in a timely manner.The project will utilize the current government systems and capacities in place. It will closely collaborate with government entities, particularly the Department of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Management”
Querido reiterated FAO’s commitment towards supporting agricultural advancement and food security in the country.
The Assistant commissioner, Disease Control, Deo Ndumu said fighting the spread of disease in areas like Karamoja is no mean feat owing to the lack of movement control of animals and pastoralists.
