Managing livestock and disease burden in Karamoja

Peter Lokonoi from Lauta village in Amudat District a cattle and goat keeper, says through sensitisation, he now harvests Napier grass which he processes into dry hay for his animals during dry season.
He also makes mineral lick blocks from clay mixed with salt which are given to animals.
In most cases, he seeks the services of community health workers to vaccinate his animals and this is during times when massive vaccination is being done in all districts.
Another group of farmers making mineral licks for their animals are from Eteteunos Agro Pastoral Field School in Lokilala village, Nadunget Sub-county in Moroto District
The group leader, Moses Lote, who calls two members to carry out a demonstration, explains that farmers mix anthill sand, ash from burnt animal bones, salt and water into a paste and later shape it in brick-laying box, which is later left to harden and dry to form a mineral lick block.
The members are passionate about it, because the mineral licks were previously made by a few farmers who sold it expensively to their colleagues at Shs7,000 per block. But an extensive community sensitisation and training has taught farmers how to make them.

Stakeholder engagement
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has engaged various stakeholders, including scientists, community health workers, among others, to improve animal health in the sub-region. Animals in Karamoja are prone to diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease which affects cattle, Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia commonly known as goat plague that affects goats, Peste des petits ruminant virus (PPRV) also known as sheep and goat plague and tick borne diseases such as East Coat Fever, trypanosomiasis, helminthiasis, lumpy skin disease and brucellosis among others.

Vaccination
Dr Emmanuel Isingoma, the officer in charge of Karamoja regional veterinary laboratory, explains that it is important for farmers to take their animals for vaccination as part of animal health management.
For the last five years, FAO has been providing vaccination services in Karamoja sub-region.
Dr Isingoma, giving tips on how effective the vaccination can be done, says it is important for an expert to diagnose an animal. This is done using the Eliezer reader where blood samples are placed into a plate and allowed to read the samples placed on it. It reads up to 90 plates at ago giving instant results.
Diagnostics can also be done using fecal matter or saliva of the animal depending on what type of disease one is looking for.
Previously, the team had a challenge of keeping the vaccines and other reagents but they were given refrigeration facilities for keeping the same. Different types of vaccines require different temperatures.
For a particular vaccine to be effective on animals, it must be kept under controlled temperature. For instance, vaccine meant to vaccinate animals against CBPP is expected to be kept under negative 20 degrees centigrade. The vaccine for FMD should be kept under 8 degrees centigrade.
In case community health workers or science experts are going out to the field to vaccinate animals, they are expected to keep the vaccines in cold boxes.
In the absence of experts farmers are expected to carry out routine checking on their animals by looking at the clinical signs and ensure that they spray the ticks.
Farmers are also advised to keep proper hygiene especially in the kraals and it is essential to vaccinate the animals to avoid them falling sick.

Pasture growing
Nakapiripirit District veterinary officer Dr Dominic Lokeris Kathiya explains that there are efforts in place to keep animals healthy. Apart from the block vaccination exercise, improvement of pasture for animals is a core activity.
In Nakapiripirit District, experts are growing different types of pasture ranging from Napier grass, calliandra and other leguminous pasture species as a demonstration for farmers to come and learn.
They are required to grow these pasture species on their own land to give to the cattle in times of shortage of pasture to avoid searching for the same in far places during times of scarcity.
The pasture growing initiative is in all districts in Karamoja sub-region and the aim is for livestock farmers to stop moving from one place to another in search of pasture, which is a common practice in the area.
Dr Sam Kayongo from Nabuin Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute explains that his team has introduced Herteropogon Contortus grass species to livestock farmers in the region because it is resistant to drought and allows animals to fatten.
Another grass species given to farmers to grow is Rhodes grass which enables animals to produce increased milk once they are fed on it. Farmers have been encouraged to produce the seed and sell to their colleagues as source of income because a kilogramme costs Shs50,000.
Sample tests
The team has set up farms in every district for growing the two grass species. In Amudat District, it is grown on 62 acre land, in Napak District, the land comprises 82 acres, Kotido District has 200 acres while Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts have 100 acres each.

Improved breed
The team is also improving on animal breed where they are crossing the Sahiwal cattle breed to the traditional Zebu through artificial insemination. This is in a bid to improve dairy production where a cow will be expected to produce 10 litres of milk per day compared to the 0.5 litres from the traditional breed.
The team is also targeting improvement of beef through weight gain because they expect the crossed male cattle to weigh 700 kg and female cow about 500 kg compared to local breed which weighs at most 300 kg for both male and female.
The cross breeds will be given to livestock farmers for further multiplication and the target is to enable farmers own this type of cattle species which should be grazed in surrounding areas because they are not capable of moving far distance in search of grass.
It is a strategy to avoid the cattle keepers from moving from one place to another in search for pasture.