Northern Bahr el-Ghazal State Ministry of Animal Resources and FAO on Tuesday launched a livestock vaccination targeting 900,000 animals.
Speaking during the launch at Nyalath, Aweil Center County, State Ministry of Animal Resources, Fisheries and Tourism Director General Samuel Ajing Uguak said the vaccination would protect livestock against deadly infectious diseases such as contagious bovine pulmonary pneumonia and hemorrhagic septicemia.
Uguak disclosed that the campaign targeted five counties of Aweil North, West, Center and South.
“Our actual target or number of livestock in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal is 900,000 goats, sheep and cattle,” he said.
The Executive Director of Farmer’s Life Development Agency (FLDA), Joseph Garang, said the agency had trained 45 community animal health workers to vaccinate livestock in Aweil South County.
“We started with the training of community animal health workers, and we have targeted about 45 people in Aweil South. These people have been trained or given refresher courses for five days,” he said.
The Aweil UN Peacekeeping Mission representative, Maria Inecita, urged the cattle-keeping communities to own the program of vaccinating animals against diseases.
“I think we need to own this program to vaccinate our cattle because our bank account is in the cattle. So it is important that we keep them free from any diseases,” she said.
Keeping livestock alive and healthy is vital in South Sudan, where most of the population depends heavily on cattle for livelihood.