Pan African programme for the control of Epizootic diseases -Uganda component..PDF

Abstract

Livestock production constitutes an important sub-sector of agricultural production in Uganda, contributing 16% of agricultural GDP and 7.5% of the total GDP in form of milk, meat, hides, skins and other by-products. This estimate does not include their contribution to investment, security, farm traction power and provision of manure for farm production. Livestock forms an integral part of the farming system in Uganda and the livestock population of Uganda consists of 5.6 million cattle, 5.5 million goats, 1.2 million sheep, 1.08 million pigs and 22 million chickens. Over 90% of the cattle are owned by smallholder farmers and grazed communally. However, animal diseases remain the major constraints to livestock production. The major diseases include Rinderpest, CBPP, FMD, Trypanosomosis, ASF, CCPP, LSD and Tick-borne diseases. The sub-sector is also affected by an illestablished surveillance and diagnostic network and hence lacks a data bank.