{UAH} How Karamoja’s wealth is sustained

How Karamoja's wealth is sustained

Written by Diana Nabiruma

 Last Updated: 13 May 2015

 

Onyang Peter looking after his grazing cattle in Karamoja

Michael Amiyo, 40, knows the exact number of animals he owns: 34 cows, 18 goats and six donkeys.

This is impressive, especially because he is not so certain of the number of children he has. He says that they are "around 21" and he got these from his three wives. Amiyo, a resident of Nakapiripirit district, is from the Karimajong tribe, which is known for placing a high premium on animals. So, it should, perhaps, not be surprising that he knows the precise number of his animals.

Amiyo's animals are prized possessions because they bring in income that he uses to educate his children – only two are going to school - and also in the cultivation of his land.

The cows also provide Amiyo with milk, while some can be sold to get money to buy food. Important as Amiyo's animals are, their existence was threatened until the establishment of the Lolachat Community Animal Health Workers' Association in 2012. The association, which provides veterinary services that include medicines for animals, vaccination and community sensitisation on animal diseases, helped Amiyo by vaccinating his animals and providing him with medicine in the event that his animals fell ill.

"Before vaccination and before I could buy medicine from this pharmacy [Lolachat Community Animal Health Workers' Association runs a pharmacy], only God would help my animals survive. They used to fall sick often and die," Amiyo says.

Like him, Lucy Nakiru, a resident of Nakapiripirit district ,is appreciative of the role the Lolachat Community Animal Health Workers' Association has played. She owns five cows and  has been sensitised on the symptoms animals exhibit when they are suffering from certain diseases.

"The shepherd [herdsboy] would be the one to tell me that the animal wasn't eating, that it was likely ill. But these days, I can tell that my cows are sick by looking at their hairs," Nakiru says.

WEALTH

Cattle keeping is the backbone of Karamoja's economy. The region's economy, and livelihoods, is sustained through the sale of cattle at popular cattle markets, most notably located in Moroto, Kotido and Kaabong.

Poor pastoralism policies, low rainfall, and poor pastures in the Karamoja sub-region means that many cattle is sold at lower prices, depriving the owners of income and affecting the region's economic fortune. Cattle diseases also partly lead to lower prices.

Patrick Ezaga, who carried out a study on Karamoja's cattle and crop markets, and authored a report, Markets for livestock and food crops in Karmoja sub-region, in 2010, noted that " … mature, healthy bulls are the predominant condition of livestock [while] sick or unhealthy cattle [are not] brought to the market."
Young, healthy cattle are the most sought-after for "restocking purposes," Ezaga noted.

LOLACHAT ASSOCIATION

While livestock owners are appreciative of the role the association is playing, these health workers are operating illegally. This is because the Veterinary Surgeons Act of 1958 restricts the kind of work the animal health workers are engaging in to veterinary doctors.

Much as the Veterinary Surgeons Act is good-intentioned, Dr Michael Kaziro, the district veterinary officer of Amudat, says the situation of Karamoja is unique and warrants some exceptions.

Karamoja has too few veterinary officers yet the herds of cattle in the area are large; Amudat district has one veterinary officer yet in one sub-county alone, such as that of Karita, 65,000 animals are owned by the residents. Nakapiripirit is better off; it has three veterinary officers and one husbandry officer.

Regardless, Kaziro says that these are too few. Each sub-county should have a veterinary officer at the very least, he says.

HEALTH WORKERS

"I cannot call for an amendment in the Veterinary Surgeons Act to allow community animal health workers to work with animals. This is because I think the architects of the Act thought that one needed certain qualifications to work with animals. However, I recognise the work being done by community animal health workers in Karamoja.

If they didn't exist, we would only be able to cover 30 per cent of the areas we are supposed to. The work they do in ten days we would do in a month," Kaziro says.

Amiyo testifies to district veterinary officers being unable to cover all the animals in Karamoja to provide the required services.

"When the district [officials] used to vaccinate our animals, they would get to all of us. This is unlike community health workers who know where we live and will know when an animal has not been vaccinated. Community health workers are also knowledgeable about animals because they own animals too. They are also popular because they come from within the community," Amiyo says.

Peter Lomuria, the chairperson of the Lolachat Community Health Workers' Association, says that in the last vaccination that was done in 23 villages, 15,000 animals were vaccinated.

"The rest had migrated a bit far but we are going to vaccinate them too," Lomuria says.

Kaziro says the community health workers in Karamoja are better placed to vaccinate animals because they are updated about animals' movements and know where to go to find herders and their animals. Recognising the need for community health workers, Kaziro says veterinary officers in Karamoja partnered with Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and trained the community health workers.

"We trained them in basic skills but for more elite work such as surgeries, we have to be called in," Kaziro says.
Because of this training and role-sharing, livestock owners in Karamoja are smiling. The gains made from keeping animals healthy and alive is helping them live sustainably. 
  
dnabiruma@observer.ug

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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