Ntungamo farmers decry continued quarantine

NTUNGAMO– Cattle farmers in Ntungamo district are worried that a quarantine imposed on the movement of livestock and related products still remains in force following an outbreak of the infectious Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) in the district in early January.

According to Dr Yakke Basulirwa, Ntungamo District Veterinary Officer (DVO), the first case of FMD was recorded in early January 2022 in Nyaruntuntu Subcounty before the disease spread to Nyakyera Subcounty.

Having registered a number of cases, Basulirwa said, the agriculture ministry was informed and immediately sent 50,000 doses of FMD vaccines as the quarantine was imposed in the affected sub-counties.

“We got a challenge of FMD outbreak in early January this year in the sub-counties of Nyakyera and Nyaruntuntu where it started with two farms but it escalated to four,” Basulirwa said.

He said farmers together with the district leadership put some biosafety measures to contain the movement of animals, which reduced the further spread of the FMD cases in the district.

“We received around 20,000 doses in the first batch but due to our vigilance and participation in the World Veterinary Day, the ministry supplied us about 50,000 doses and we have vaccinated nearly 40,000 heads of cattle and we are really progressing, he added.

Since January 2022, Dr Basulirwa confirmed three calves have died of FMD, calling upon farmers to remain vigilant and patient, saying the quarantine could take less than six months.

Some of the closed cattle markets include; Rubare cattle market, Kagarama, Kitwe, Nyarutuntu, Rwentobo, Nyakyera and Ngoma.

Effects

According to Geoffrey Katto, Chairman Ntungamo Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative Union (NDFCU), the quarantine imposed in the affected sub-counties has led to reduced milk deliveries to the union.

“From Mutanoga collecting centre alone, we would get 20,000 litres out of the 50,000 litres of milk received at the union every day but currently they are not delivering a single litre because of the quarantine imposed in the sub-county and imagine all that milk put to waste for four months now,” Katto says.

He added that the price of milk in the area has gone down, despite the fact that prices of commodities in the country are on the increase.

“A litre of milk at the farm gate has now dropped to Shs 1,300 from Shs1, 500 recently. But this would be the best time for the farmers to reap from the highest prices ever in this area because we had never sold a litre at that price,” Katto said.

He added that with the continued quarantine, most farmers are likely to miss taking their children back to school because they have been unable to sell animals or milk due to the continued quarantine. Pupils and students are back to school for the second term.

“For instance, I have six children that are supposed to report to school…, but as I speak now I don’t have enough money to cater for their requirements, meaning that I must look for a loan from different banks to have my children in school,” Katto said.

He appealed to the authorities to lift the quarantine so that parents are able to sell off some animals to pay school fees.

“We have done intensive mass animal vaccination and we have responded to the quarantine to the extent that we don’t have any active cases in the district. It’s our humble request that the government should lift the quarantine such that we can sell animals to take our children to school,” Kato said.

Naboth Kahinja, another farmer from the most affected sub-county of Nyaruntuntu confirmed that all his 16 cows that got attacked by FMD have already recovered from the pandemic.

“As I speak now all the 16 cows that were affected have now healed from the disease and even veterinary officials have taken the samples but we have not received feedback,” Kahinja says, appealing for the lifting of the quarantine so that he sells some animals to clear debts.

Yona Musinguzi, MP of Ntungamo Municipality also challenged the agriculture ministry to speed up the plans of opening cattle markets in the area.

Dr Anna Rose Ademun, Commissioner Animal Health in the agriculture ministry confirmed that FMD is among the diseases challenging the international market value, which needs attention.

She advised farmers to remain patient as the disease is being monitored in the district.

“Right now the district has informed us that there are no animals that are sick and once the disease is no longer there then we are in a good position to open the cattle markets. It’s not just lifting the quarantine but we must ensure that the disease condition is out of the animals in the district,” she insisted.

https://thecooperator.news/ntungamo-farmers-stranded-as-supplier-delays-to-deliver-seeds/

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