LIVESTOCK
The country's natural environment provides good grazing for cattle,
sheep, and goats. Livestock in Uganda is predominantly composed of
indigenous breeds.
Smallholder farmers own about 70 percent of all cattle while the rest
is reared on several hundred modern commercial ranches areas that
are free from tsetse-fly infestation.
Through government funding and donations, the population of cows has
been greatly increased in recent years.
Goat
farming has also recently become a thriving business. Previously,
goats were kept for subsistence consumption only. Goats are particularly
good because they are resistant to most disease and pests. The population
of pigs has also grown greatly as a result of the ever-growing demand
for pork in urban areas.
the
quality and sizes of the stocks have improved because of better
breeds imported from other countries like Tanzania, Britain, Germany,
Kenya and Holland. Disease resistant breeds have also been developed
by the veterinary department. More quality meat and diary products
are now available on the market.
Poultry
The poultry industry has also been commercialised because of the
increasing demand for chicken meat and eggs. A lot of chicks are
still imported from Europe because the local hatcheries cannot satisfy
the demand for day-old chicks. Commercial production of chicken
is supplemented by domestic production.
Bee keeping
There are more than 50 cooperatives involved in the apiary industry.
They produce more than 1000 tones of honey and beeswax from over
4000 hives. This industry is growing rapidly due to the high demand
for their product. Honey is also a high value product that fetches
a good price per litre.
Feeds
mills have been developed because of the growing population of beasts
and birds that need to be fed. New jobs have been created and new
technologies developed because of the developments in the livestock
industry.
Problems
facing the industry
· Prevalence of disease and pests
· Costly pesticides and antibiotics
· Poor breeds of animals
· Lack of facilities for processing products like milk and
meat
· Inaccessible markets mainly due to poor road network.
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