Drawn from 34 primary cooperative societies, livestock farmers under their umbrella body Uganda Meat Producers Cooperative Union Ltd (UMPCU), gathered at their livestock resource centre 1 in Butalangu town council, Nakaseke district to attend the 2020 annual general meeting (AGM). The AGM which was held on Wednesday 14th October 2020, gathered UMPCU farmers’ representatives from the districts of Luwero, Ntungamo, Kyankwanzi, Mbarara, Mubende, Kiruhura, Masaka, Sembabule, Kiryandongo, Isingiro, Lwengo, Bukomansimbi, Nakasongola, and Nakaseke. It was originally meant to be held in March 2020 but was postponed owing to the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted into the country’s lockdown.
Dr. Anna Rose Ademun Okurut, the Commissioner for Animal Health in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), who presided over the event urged the farmers to make efforts to control animal disease if Uganda’s beef is to get onto the international market. She said that the livestock industry never loses power because food is a necessity and always has market. She advised the farmers to manage animal health by putting in place compartments and zoning on their farms.
At the same event, the project coordinator of MOBIP, Dr. Mary Concepta Mbabazi urged UMPCU farmers to aid in stocking the livestock resource centres with animals as a motivation to others. MOBIP is the project – Developing a Market-Oriented Beef and Environmentally Sustainable Beef Meat Industry in Uganda, within the Directorate of Animal Resources in MAAIF and funded by the European Union (E.U). MOBIP is implemented in collaboration with UMPCU’s Farmer-Led Beef Livestock Investment and Sustainability project (FALBIIS), also funded by the E.U.
The Chairman UMPCU Board, Eng. Robert Ssenozi said that COVID-19 had disrupted a number of activities but the Union would ensure services are delivered to its farmers.
Mr. David Nyende of Continental Partners, UMPCU’s auditors assured the meeting that UMPCU had a clean audit report.
The AGM was also attended by the Nakaseke district leadership, UMPCU Board members and staff, officials from MAAIF & MOBIP and UMPCU farmers.
