KAMPALA, August 24, 2026 — Livestock farmers in Uganda will benefit from lower vaccination costs once a factory to locally manufacture foot-and-mouth disease [ FMD ] vaccines begins operations.
According to the Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze, the factory, which is a partnership between the governments of Uganda and Egypt, will reduce the cost farmers incur to vaccinate their animals.
“With the foot-and-mouth vaccines that we have in stock, we are vaccinating the four-hoofed animals. Cows are vaccinated at Shs 8,000 and goats at Shs 4,000. But when the factory is here, the price will drop substantially.
“We are in high gear and have just signed the partnership,” Tumwebaze said, without giving a timeline for the factory’s operations.
The minister made the revelation in response to concerns raised by Richard Ongorok, Usuk County Member of Parliament [MP], during a plenary sitting on Thursday, August 20, 2026, about the cost-recovery scheme under the FMD vaccination programme.
Ongorok observed that the public, especially animal herders, had not been adequately educated about the policy governing payment for the FMD vaccine.
Tumwebaze clarified that the policy requires farmers to pay for the vaccine online, noting that cases of veterinary officers asking for cash payments had been reported to the relevant authorities for action.
“We will intensify the announcements in all local languages to ensure that everybody who has animals that require vaccination understands how they can acquire the vaccine,” he said.
The minister also told the House that government could no longer provide free maize and coffee seedlings to farmers, saying they are now required to apply for funding under the Parish Development Model [PDM] to purchase the seedlings.
Tumwebaze was responding to a matter raised by Patrick Musinguzi, Kashari North County MP, during the sitting chaired by Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth.
Musinguzi said he had received overwhelming requests for seedlings from his constituents.
“During the State-of-the-Nation Address, the President directed us to awaken our people to effectively utilise the PDM and go into the money economy. As I speak, I need 941 coffee seedlings to support my people who are asking for them,” Musinguzi said.
The minister said the policy had shifted the Government’s central procurement of seedlings through NAADS and their distribution by MPs through registered cooperatives to funding under the PDM framework.
“This is a substantial chunk of money that was sent to the parishes, but the coffee seedling issue seems not to fit well within PDM. The ministry does not have money for seedlings this season, but we will get guidance from the President and Cabinet on how we can handle it,” Tumwebaze said.
The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, urged legislators to monitor the effectiveness of all Government-funded programmes, including Emyooga and the Grow Project.
“PDM is doing very well, despite a few challenges which we must identify and resolve. We also have the Emyooga and Grow projects. When we go to our respective communities, we need to audit how many people have received funds and address challenges of repayment. Our people must learn that these are revolving funds,” Nabbanja said.
She also called on MPs from the Lango, Teso and Acholi sub-regions to follow up on the Shs 5 million per household provided under the cattle-restocking programme to ensure that the funds reach the intended beneficiaries.
https://thecooperator.news/ntungamo-partially-lifts-fmd-quarantine-after-six-month-ban/
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