This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On July 18, 2019, the Ugandan government announced plans to require farmers to register their cows and obtain birth certificates to meet international market demands.
The move, announced by Agriculture Minister Vincent Ssempijja, aims to improve the traceability of products and enable farmers to benefit from the international market.
According to Ssempijja, the European market is demanding that countries producing foodstuff and crops for the European market produce traceability, which includes knowing the origin of the products.
He noted that importers of products from Uganda are demanding meat from cows aged between 15 and 24 months, hence the government will require a birth certificate for cows to ascertain their age.
‘‘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,” Ssempijja said, as quoted by the Daily Monitor.
He added: ‘‘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.”
The announcement was made at the official opening of the National Agricultural Show at the Source of the Nile grounds in Jinja.
