Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has issued an order that every cow in Uganda should be registered, numbered and issued with a birth certificate by September this year.
Museveni gave this order saying that through registration of animals, the country will be able to penetrate the international market and maintain sustainability.
“People want to know what they are buying to eat, where it is coming from, its quality and what they are spending their money on,” Museveni said.
The Ugandan president also made it clear that farmers in the country would be registered too. This would aid in tracing them and their products and enable them to be recognizable in the local and international market.
The minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, in Uganda, Vincent Ssempijja also added to this as he said that the importers of the country’s products demand meat for cows aged between 15 to 24 months, thus Ugandans are going to sell their animals depending on their ages.
Ssempija also added that most countries in the international market demand for traceability of foodstuffs and crops, especially for the European market.
‘‘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,” Ssempija said.
Farmers who will be registered will have their products provided with bar codes that will help them trace the sources in case there is a problem.
The minister announced that an audit team from the European Union (EU) will jet into the country to ensure that all Ugandan farmers are registered and also all products destined for the European market registered.
However, some allegations had it that the registration exercise is a trickery by the government to impose taxes on farmers which had been scrapped at the beginning of July.
In refuting the tax imposing allegations, Ssempija said, “Apart from traceability of the products, the team also wants to ensure that farmers benefit directly because many of them are cheated by middlemen. Government will not cater for those who defy the order when it comes to markets.”
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