Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries is laying plans to carry out a countrywide domestic animal census starting next month.
Bright Rwamirama, the State Minister for Animal Husbandry said the exercise is intended to facilitate effective planning and budgeting in the Ministry. He said the Ministry has for long failed to tackle livestock challenges like shortage of market, diseases, shortage of water and food because it does not know the exact number of livestock in the country.
“We cannot
only rely on data availed by Uganda Bureau of Statistics as a ministry in
charge of food security, we need to know the exact population of goats, cattle
and pigs in Uganda,” Rwamirama said.
Rwamirama said the exercise will help the minister know the farms and number of
animals in each sub-county around the country.
“Since we do not have enough resources as a ministry to conduct this activity,
we shall utilise the already existing structures in districts to successfully
conduct the exercise,” he revealed.
In July last year, the same ministry made a bizarre proposal of starting to issue birth certificates to cows. Minister Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja revealed that the cattle will be registered with each being accorded a special number containing a microchip depending on the location of the district.