Government lifts livestock quarantine

Livestock farmers and traders in Nakasongola District can now breathe a sigh of relief after the government lifted a year-long cattle movement ban in all sub-counties previously affected by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries announced the lifting of the quarantine on January 27, 2025.

The livestock quarantine, imposed in January 2024, had seen cattle markets in Nabiswera, Wabinyonyi, and Nakitoma in Kakooge Sub-county shut down following an FMD outbreak. 

The decision to lift the ban is viewed by some farmers as a timely relief, as parents prepare to send their children back to school.

“While some unscrupulous individuals have been smuggling the banned livestock products, including live animals, out of the district for financial gains, the majority of the farmers deriving livelihood from livestock farming have gone through a harsh experience. The lifting of the FMD quarantine will enable many of the farmers to send back their children to school,” Mr Emmanuel Kisembo, a livestock farmer in Nakitoma Sub-county, said.

The Nakasongola District Chairperson, Mr Sam Kigula, emphasised the economic toll the quarantine had taken on residents, noting that 70 percent of the district’s population depends on live stock farming.

But a section of the farmers, including the district leaders accuse the government officials of deliberately delaying the lifting of the FMD quarantine even after a successful vaccination campaign. 

They claim that the government provided FMD vaccines as early as July 2024, yet restrictions remained in place.

Mr Joseph Bisaso, a farmer in Nabiswera Sub-county, said more than 200 of his cattle were vaccinated, along with many others in the area, but authorities took months to act.

“I blame the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for failing to effectively monitor the livestock industry at the grassroots. The ministry officials are quick to announce the animal quarantine but fail to evaluate the pain that the livestock farmers go through during the ban. It is only fair that responsible officials monitor the FMD vaccination campaign to ensure that the farmers’ plight is not ignored even after the FMD is long gone,” he said.

But Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze clarified that the government relies on reports from district officials to determine when to lift quarantines.

“It is upon the submission of the vaccination records and confirmation that FMD has been contained in the respective areas that the ministry lifts the quarantine,” he said by telephone yesterday.

Background
Nakasongola was among 36 districts placed under quarantine in early 2024. A report presented to Parliament on February 1, 2024, revealed that government needed about Shs671b to vaccinate an estimated 44 million livestock twice a year. 

In response, the Cabinet approved Shs10b for vaccines in high-risk areas in February 2024. The district last saw a quarantine lifted in November 2020, after a two-year-long restriction.

Uganda recorded its first FMD outbreak in 1953, and since then, cases have occurred annually without a predictable pattern.

Livestock experts from the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) have urged government to investigate the different strains of the FMD virus to improve containment strategies. They warn that a one size-fits-all vaccination approach may be ineffective, as FMD strains vary across districts.