Farmers decry quality of cows given to them under State House scheme

A number of farmers in Kawumu village in Luwero district have questioned the quality of cows that were given to them under the poverty alleviation programme implemented by State House.

Kilinya Samuel a resident of Kawumu said he spends a lot of money on taking care of the cow but it has failed to conceive despite the different attempts made by the veterinary doctors.

"We tried everything but the cow failed to conceive. Each time the veterinary was invited they ended up doing nothing but being paid for their transport refund," Kilinya said.

He said the cow was of poor quality and he sold it, bought another one which is now pregnant.

Joseph Mangasi also a resident of Kawumu said the cow given to him under this scheme conceived but its milk production is very low.

He said he only gets between two and three litres a day yet its a heifer.

"I only milk it once in a day so the milk is just consumed by people at home leaving nothing for sale," Mangasi said.

Joan Kakwenzire, the presidential advisor on poverty alleviation noted the concerns of these farmers which she attributed to their limited budget.

She said due to limited finances, they can’t procure quality animals because they are very expensive.

"We buy cows at Shs 1.5 millions and that is poor grade. If we are to buy the best quality it would cost us between Shs 3- 4million which money we don’t have," she said.

Kakwenzire said another issue is that many people in central Uganda are new to cattle rearing and they could not give them good quality cows.

Despite the few hiccups, Kakwenzire said the project has been successful as many families have been transformed.

Currently the project is run in 29 villages and State House has plans to expand it countrywide.