The Eastern Equatoria State Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Tourism, in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Wednesday launched a campaign to vaccinate and treat at least 275,000 livestock in the state.
The campaign under the theme “healthy livestock, healthy people and sustainable development” is to protect the livestock against infectious and endemic diseases and to increase productivity for food and economic security.
The campaign also targets 7,100 households in greater Torit and 91,000 households in the greater Kapoeta area where animal husbandry is a mainstay economic activity.
Speaking during the launch of the campaign in Torit town, Angelo William Geri, the state minister of livestock, fisheries, and tourism, encouraged livestock owners to avail their animals for vaccination and treatment.
“Today is a very important day for cattle keepers or livestock owners in Eastern Equatoria because we are launching a campaign for the vaccination and treatment of our livestock and I call all people to avail their livestock for vaccination and treatment,” he said. “As you are aware, livestock in the state represents a significant proportion of our economic activity and contributes greatly to our economy.”
“It contributes up to about 13 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is why we need to take care of our livestock,” Minister Geri added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Guari Johntana, the veterinarian in the FAO Torit field office, said that different types of vaccines will be used for cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, and donkeys.
“There are four types of vaccines for cattle for anthrax, contagious bovine pneumonia, hemorrhagic septicemia, and black quota. For goats, we have vaccines for pneumonia, PPR pest, and sheep and goat pox,” he said. “For sheep, we have two types of vaccines for sheep pox and PPR.”
“For chicken, we have one for Newcastle disease and we have rabies vaccines for dogs and donkeys,” Dr Guari added.
For his part, Adaha Joseph, one of the kraal owners in Torit town, said over 300 cattle, mainly calves, have died since the beginning of the year.
“Many cattle died due to diseases this year compared to last year and calves died in big numbers,” he said. “We discussed it and thought your ministry will come and take the blood samples but we are not being told what disease killed them,” he said.”
James Pio, who owns over 200 head of cattle welcomed the vaccination and treatment drive and said they should be routine to prevent animal deaths.
“I am very happy because it will save the lives of our animals. We have several diseases here that kill animals and we cannot live if our animals all die,” he said. “Let FAO continue to stand with us and this will encourage cattle owners as they are now very expensive.”
The campaign is being funded by the Norwegian government.