4 November 2009
According to the National Livestock Census, Karamoja region has the most cattle in Uganda but remains the most underdeveloped and impoverished region because the resource is not exploited, writes Evelyn Lirri.
Mr Andrea Icumar was a wealthy man by Karimojong standards until cattle rustlers raided all his 300 heads of cattle eight years ago. For Icumar, like most Karimojong, cows not only carry a high cultural importance, but are also the main stay for the people of this region. Karamoja is part of what is known as the pastoralist corridor - an area inhabited by semi-nomadic cattle keeping groups. Today, the area which is home to close to a million pastoralist communities is also considered the most underdeveloped and impoverished region in Uganda.
Most of its population is poor and life has become a nightmare. However, the National Livestock Census report 2008 produced by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries, shows that the region is endowed with resources, hosting most of the country's livestock.
How cattle can promote development
This resource, the report recommends, can be exploited to promote commercial livestock enterprise that can economically lift the region from poverty. The National Livestock Census was carried out in February 2008 with the aim of establishing the numbers of livestock and poultry in the country. It shows that overall, the total number of cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys, horses, camels and dogs in Karamoja sub-region alone, outnumbers the figures that the rest of the regions has. It estimates that the country for example has 11.4 million cattle, of which 2.5 million is in the western region, 2.5 is in eastern region, 2.3 million is in the Karamoja sub-region while 1.6 million is found in the north and West Nile regions.
Enormous potential
In general, the districts with the highest number of cattle are Kotido, Nakapiripirit, Kaabong, Moroto, Kiboga, Kiruhura, Rakai, Soroti, Ntungamo, Apac, Masaka, Yumbe and Nakasongola. Others are Kumi, Mpigi, Masindi, Kamuli and Bushenyi. Prof Augustus Nuwagaba, a development expert from Makerere University, said Karamoja has the potential to develop and catch up with the rest of the country if it can commercialise commodities like cattle. "At the moment, cows in Karamoja are seen as an item of cultural pride and not as something that can generate income.
If this is changed and it's turned into a commodity, then we can see the region competing economically with other milk producing areas," Prof Nuwagaba said. The report shows that while Karamoja sub-region has a high proportion of animals that can be sold to generate money, only 6.4 per cent of milk produced in the region is sold. "Only a small proportion of these products seems to be available for sale as evidenced by the dismal proportion of milk produced in the region that is sold to the market. In general, up to 34.7 per cent of milk in Uganda is sold, most of it coming from the Western region.
Untapped benefits
In Karamoja, the report said much of the milk is consumed at home. The semi-arid region, the report shows, also has the highest number of horses and donkeys with at least 960 of the 1,590 horses in Uganda found in Karamoja region. The director for animal resources in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries, Dr William Mukhani, said that these animals, especially the horses, can be very helpful during disasters.
"The animals can provide transport in areas and roads blocked by floods," Dr Mukhani said. Of the 32,870 camels that the country has, at least 32,030 are found in Karamoja region, with Nakapiripirit and Moroto districts registering the highest numbers of camels. Overall according to the report, 14.4 per cent of households in Uganda own 1.6 million dogs, with the highest number of dog owners still found in the Karamoja sub-region. "A typical dog-owning household in Uganda has 1.7 dogs. In terms of region, a typical household in Karamoja zone had the highest average dog herd size estimated to be 2.6 dogs," the report shows. The national sheep herd is estimated at 3.4 million. Karamoja region has the highest number of sheep, estimated at 1.69 million, while the western region had the least, at 0.27 million.
The census results show that the country has 12.5 million goats, with Nakapiripirit District having the highest number of goats at 547,370, closely followed by Kotido and Kaabong with 535,140 and 525,390 goats respectively.
The report recommends that the resources that Karamoja is endowed with can be harnessed and used sustainably to develop the region. "The government should explore possibilities of undertaking and promoting livestock rearing as a commercial enterprise, especially in the Karamoja zone by taking advantage of the considerably higher average herd sizes," the report reveals.
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