Animal and poultry feed manufacturers under their umbrella body, Uganda Animal Feed Manufacturers Association (UGAFMA) have started a process that will see them come up with a standard feed mixing formulation that will be enforced throughout the country.
“We have started working with nutritionists from Makerere University to help us come up with a standard mixing formulation that will be certified in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. This will be followed by all our members in mixing feeds,” George Michael Adiga, the UGAFMA Secretary General said on Friday.
“We want to ensure there is a standard formular that all dealers be it in Kampala, Gulu, Mbale, Mbarara, or Hoima follow while mixing animal and poultry feeds. This will help ensure quality.”
Adiga said in a bid to ensure quality feeds, the nutritionists will help create formulated mixtures based on the needs of the targeted animals and poultry so as to provide a balanced diet.
To this, the UGAFMA Secretary General said raw materials for animal feeds would have to be first weighed, tested and then analysed to ensure that the required nutrients are present in the proper quality and quantity.
“This certified formulation is what all animal and poultry feed dealers will be required to follow while mixing feeds. The formulation will be different for broilers, layers, growers, pigs, cattle, goats and the different animals and poultry as a way of ensuring quality feeds.”
“These formulations will be passed onto all dealers in animals and poultry feeds throughout the country. We want to ensure that when a farmer goes to buy feeds in Kampala, the formulation is the same as one who buys in Gulu, Mbarara or any part of the country,” Adiga noted.
Standards
The UGAFMA Secretary General said in a bid to realign the sector they have started enforcing standards in animal and poultry manufacturing.
“We have started regulating the sector to help improve the quality and quantity produced. For example, we have our teams that move to the lakes where silver fish is got to sensitise fishermen on how to dry them to avoid mixing it with sand. We want to have dry fish which is as clean as possible.”
Adiga said in the past, the biggest complaint by farmers has been silver fish with sand but said this arises from the way it is dried on the ground but said their teams are solving this.
“We have also asked farmers to dry maize properly to avoid having aflatoxins which are harmful not to only humans but also animals. If maize is not dried well, even the products out of it like maize bran are affected. We therefore implore farmers to dry it properly. We want to ensure animal and poultry feeds business is one to be proud of. This can only be done when we have standards that are followed to the dot by the players,” Adiga said.