Kenya’s neighboring country, Uganda has issued a plan to roll out a program that will see all cows in Uganda get birth certificates and their farmers registered
This was announced by The Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Vincent Ssempijja who explained that the move will benefit Ugandan farmers on international trade forum as well as tracing back the cows.
Mr Vincent Ssempijja added that the international market from Europe demanded that all countries exporting foodstuffs to their nation must provide a clear cut tracing ability .
‘‘They want to know where the products are coming from; they have been impounding and banning all consignments from Uganda if they find one box with issues,” he said.
He added that all the cows will be given bar-code readers.
“Farmers will be registered and their products given barcodes so that if they find a problem with one box, they look for the source and sort out the problem. We cannot enter lucrative market unless farmers register.’’
He als revealed while speaking at National Agricultural Show at the Source of the Nile grounds in Jinja on Tuesday, that the birth certificates will also help determine the age of cows for the benefits of the market demand.
‘‘For cattle farmers, it is going to be worse. You will be registered as a farmer, the cow will be registered, numbered and will have a birth certificate because the importers of our products demand meat for cows aged between 15 to 24 months. So we are going to sell depending on their age,” he added.
