Ugandan government has announced
plans to register all farmers and their cows for traceability of their products
and to enable them benefit from the international market.
The Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Vincent
Ssempijja, while speaking at the official opening of an Agricultural Show at
the Source of the Nile grounds in Jinja on Tuesday, said the international
market demands that all countries producing foodstuff and crops for the
European market produce its traceability.
‘‘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,” he said.
The minister added: “Farmers will be registered and their products given
barcodes so that if they find a problem with one box, they look for the source
and sort out the problem. We cannot enter lucrative market unless farmers
register.’’
Mr Ssempijja
added that all the cows must be registered and given birth certificates.
‘‘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,” he added.