Livestock science October 2009
Animal health - building on local knowledge
Paul Emojong and Fred Muwau: Works with Caritas Karamoja and veterinary officer working with Straight Talk Foundation
Summary:
Raising livestock in remote, environmentally harsh areas such as Karamoja in northern Uganda is difficult, not least because there are few animal health services. Recently, however, several NGOs have begun helping communities identify and treat livestock diseases. Pius Sawa speaks to some of those involved.
Suggested introduction:
The Karamojong people of north east Uganda have a reputation for fiercely defending their land and their animals. However, raising livestock in harsh environmental conditions and having few animal health services to help with the prevention and treatment of disease, they have remained poor.
But now there are efforts by several NGOs in Karamoja to help communities identify and treat livestock diseases, so that the animals will be healthier and more productive and their owners can start selling healthy products to the other parts of Uganda and beyond.
Fred Muwau is a veterinary officer working with Straight Talk Foundation and Paul Emojong works with Caritas Karamoja. Pius Sawa met them both and put together this feature in which the two specialists explain what is being done to improve livestock health in this remote region.
Tape in:
Karamoja is in the north east of Uganda...
Tape out:
...more sustainable way of doing it.
Closing Announcement:
Paul Emojong and Fred Muwau describing work to improve animal health in Uganda's remote Karamoja region.
Making the most of it:
Invite two specialists to give you their perspectives on an animal production issue that is problematic to your listeners. Either record them together speaking one after the other in response to a sequence of points or questions or edit them to alternate. If you record a variety of relevant, interesting sound effects you can add them to the mix to make the piece an even better listen for your audience.
Further information:
Caritas Uganda,
P.O. Box 2886,
Kampala,
UGANDA,
E-mail: caritas@caritasuganda.org.ug
Website: www.caritas.org/worldmap/afric...
Transcript
Muwau
Karamoja is in the north east of Uganda. It is generally flat land, very flat. They keep cattle, sheep and then the goats. Whatever they do is basically the local stuff whereby they use their local medicines to treat, though the vets who are there are working hard to bring in the real medical attention, whereby they do vaccinations, they are advising them to deworm those animals. But they are still finding it, it is not all that easy.
Emojong
Something that has been deep rooted in the culture of the people, sometimes you may not remove it away from them but the best thing is just to strengthen. Karamajong has got a very, very strong attachment to the animal. So the best way of helping them out if you have to improve on their livelihood through their animals is to help them in the areas of animal health and other modern livestock practices.
Muwau
These animals when you look at them they do not generally look nice or good from the physical appearance. They depict signs of worm infestation, trypanosomiasis. They have a lot of ticks on them.
Emojong
So our point of entry was not really to go with our system and impose on them but some study, some research was also carried out and for some of their traditional systems which were effective we supported it. We supported it and somehow strengthened it. But of course now we have got a number of new diseases which have come in now which they are not aware about and therefore you need the vets who know about this.
Muwau
It is very important that on top of the managerial services and activities, health services are more important.
Emojong
Some of these people whom we have trained have not been to school. But we use the people, the trained and the skilled, veterinary officers who know the type of diseases which are rampant within the place. They know the signs, they know everything, they know the drugs which are supposed to be given, how it can be got so easily.
Muwau
These local methods have limitations. With this changing world of ours, new diseases keep on coming up, though they have some similar signs with those diseases which were around before. So these people tend to associate these signs with those previous signs and they think, their diagnosis becomes poor in such a way that they end up associating signs to a disease which is not the right one.
Emojong
At one time we had an outbreak of a disease in some of those parts of the Karamoja where the tails of the cows were just falling off on their own and the vets certainly claimed that it was a new thing, basically. But I think they had a way of associating it also to other diseases which have actually been there over time and they managed to treat the disease and I think they even brought in a vaccine for it and we have not had such a case again.
Muwau
We know water is life. Therefore since water is life, these animals also need water and they need to take water. So I would only appeal to any authority that let these areas have good clean water for these animals.
Emojong
You know this is a tradition. These are the practices that have been deep rooted in the culture of the Karamajong. So to pull them out to practise modern methods of livestock has not been something easy. However I am saying that the little that has been so far done is good and of course a lot has been done but a lot more remains to be done. Basically in Uganda we know very well that reliance on extension workers is not really something that can be taken. So to have the communities trained and to have them knowledgeable and to have them empowered to carry out activities related to animal health is a more sustainable way of doing it. End of track
