Poultry is one form of farming in Uganda which many people have taken part. However, poultry has been highly affected by various diseases drawing back poultry production not as expected.

Coccidiosis is the common disease that has infected approximately 20% of the total poultry in Uganda according to the findings from central diagnostic laboratory at Makerere university veterinary medicine,

The killer disease is caused by Coccidian, a parasitic protozoan organism and spreads from one bird to another mostly through droppings that are already infected. The spreading of the disease is caused by infected droppings, which are consumed by other birds. These droppings contain the eggs of the coccidian which birds pick and eat while feeding on he ground leading to their infection.

Coccidian eggs in the intestines hatch into adult coccidian which later attaches to the walls of the intestines and then start to increase in numbers. As the eggs grow and multiply, intestinal walls are damaged which lead to bleeding and then a reddish color in the droppings of the birds a sign of coccidiosis. The other signs of coccidiosis include loss of weight, pale of the combs and loss of production in birds among others.

To prevent the spread of Coccidiosis, poultry farmers are ought use Coccidiosis, which can also be used for treatment at a higher dosage with the direction by the veterinary doctors. More still poultry farmers with the guidance’s of the doctors are reminded to change the vaccine since coccidian can resist frequently used vaccines.
To deal with the disease, farmers are told to use coccidiostats mixed with feeds or water during the outbreak to prevent the spread of the disease. Farmers are cautioned to pay attention and follow the guidelines of the manufacturer in order to avoid overdosing which can be harmful.

Besides coccidiosis, other diseases such as Collibalillossi, Cannibalism, New castle, Gumbaro disease, and Oomphalitis are as well affecting poultry farming in Uganda. Also, newly avian leukossi, nutritional deficiencies, necrotic enteritis, foreign bodies, fowl pox, mycoplasmosis, Avian encephalomyelitis, Gout, Mareks disease, broiler ascites, infectious bronchitis, external parasites, Bumbe feet, suffocation and vaccine reaction.

Conclusively therefore, poultry farming is the best form of farming that all people should take part in. Farmers are cautioned to take action to prevent the spread of poultry diseases for high production.

Organizations supporting agriculture in Uganda

Kulika Uganda
Kulika Uganda is a non profit Ugandan organization working to gether with power communities in Uganda so as to improve livelihood of very power communities through education and agriculture. Kulika works hand in hand with local farmers to foster improvement of organic farming in communities. Kilika embassies organic farming and teaches local farmers, educates them on how to use organic farming to enhance production.

http://www.kulika.org/
Plot 472 Nsambya road
P.O.Box 11330 Kampala
Uganda , East Africa
Email: kulikauganda@kulika.org
Telephone: +256 (0) 414 266 261,+256 (0) 414 51 00 05

IFAD in Uganda
Established in 1982 with the major aim of reducing the high poverty elves in rural Uganda. IFAD offers loans to finance programs and projects geared towards empowering rural people and improving food productivity and food security for the people. IFAD is partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries to support smallholder farming through the Agricultural Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services (ATAAS) Program.
https://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/home/tags/uganda

USASO – Uganda Sustainable Agricultural Support Organization
USASO is a non government organization that promotes agricultural innovative practices for small farmers emphasizing organic farming through training farmers sustainable farming methods
http://www.usaso.ug.org

NOGAMU – National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda
Nogamu is a big umbrella organisaziotn uniting producers, farmers, processors, NGOS and other agricultural institutes that practice organic farming inUganda.
NOGAMU coordinates and networks the different agricultural entities so as to maximize income and hence improve livelihoods in Uganda with great emphasis on organic agriculture.

NOGAMU Coordinates the following organizations
Caritas Kampala – In the Central
Restless Development – In the East
Sustainable Agricultural Trainer’s Network (SATNET) – In the West.

http://www.nogamu.org.ug/

Uganda Sustainable Agricultural Support
Set up in 2009 with an aim of promoting sustainable agricultural improvement and reduction of poverty in rural Uganda.
website: http://agriprofocus.com/,
Email: usaso.uganda@yahoo.com
Phone: +256 771 625663, 0704 150091

FAO Uganda – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Established as early as 1945 to monitor global supply of food, fibre and forest products so as to maximize production. FAO offers information and training for developing countries to modernize and improve agriculture, fisheries as well as forest practices to ensure enough productivity, good nutrition and food security.

http://www.fao.org/uganda/fao-in-uganda/en/
Email: FAO-UG@fao.org
P.O. Box 521, Kampala
Tel: +256 414 349916/7

Much as farmers in East Africa have sought of healing from prolonged drought that has hit the region, the spread of fall armyworm is a new threat that has spread at a rapid stage. At present, fall armyworm has already spread in countries of Rwanda, Ethiopia, Burundi Uganda and has been recently detected in Kenya believed to have spread from Uganda. Kenya’s infected counties include Nandi, Gishu, Uasin, Busia, Bungoma and Transzoia.

Western Kenya was the first region where fall armyworm started from and then spread to other regions. The pest was discovered by the Kenya plant health inspectorate service and Kenya agricultural and live stock research organization in March 2017. Maize producing counties of Bornet, kericho, Nakuru, Baringo in Central Rift as well as Narok in south rift are the most affected by the pest. More still, the pest mainly infects maize at the germinating and tasselling stages of growth after which the crop dries and dies. However, the pest has not affected the coastal and Eastern areas of Kenya.

To prevent the widely spread of fall armyworm, the government of Kenya has put a platform to coordinate the development of intervention strategies to prevent the spread of fall armyworm. More still, farmers have been given extension services along with extensive knowledge and skills on how they can control and manage the spread of the pest.

Zones of Bench-Maji, Kaffa and Sheka in Ethiopia are the best example where interception programs have been put in place to deal with this pest. The health clinic of Mizan told the ministry of agriculture and natural resources of Ethiopia that measures have been for early maize planting in January, February and March.

Additionally, continuous seasons of poor rainfall associated with crop failures, reduced opportunities and water shortage in the horn of Africa have become a serious threat. This has resulted into food insecurity, livestock death, raised food prices and rapidly diminishing access to food by poorhouse holds. Similarly, humanitarian crisis triggered by drought has led to skyrocketing and food insecurity mostly in communities owning livestock.

Also, drought has strongly hit areas of Uganda, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, south Sudan, and Kenya, which largely depend on agricultural and livestock production for nutrition, food and income. Also, water sources, rangelands and crops have been scorched by drought, which has in turn caused hunger, disease spread and death of livestock. This has in resulted into the migration of families, selling of their properties and skipping of meals as strategies to cope with the existing situation.
Various technical meeting have been arranged by the food and agricultural organizations to prevent the spread fall armyworm in areas, which have not been affected, and those already affected by the pest. This is in partnership with the governments and other shareholders in southern Africa, the alliance for a green revolution and the international maize and wheat improvement center in Nairobi.

Conclusively therefore, agriculture is the back born of Africa and is the main source of food and employment. Various strategies are recommended for effective management of fall armyworm in all parts of the continent.

Whereas many Ugandan’s take part in agriculture as a source of employment opportunities and livelihood, the activity is hindered by various risks and uncertainties drawing back its productivity. Being an open-air business, agriculture is highly affected by weather conditions such as prolonged drought, heavy rainfall, and rainstorms among others. Its difficult to predict what may happen from the time of planting to harvesting. Agricultural products are reaped once or twice every year, which is also not guaranteed. Seasons in farming take long before harvesting hence delayed harvests. This therefore requires farmers to have enough income to support the ongoing projects in agriculture even before harvesting.

Production risks
The difference in expected and actual productivity is the main cause of production risks. This is as a result of un predictable weather conditions such as excessive rainfall, prolonged drought, pests and diseases that cause diversity in agricultural productions. The Pests affect plants at all stages of growth from germination to harvesting which lead to low output at the end. Similarly high rates of reproduction in these pests cause damage as they rapidly develop from a small number of an individual pest to a large mass of pests. More still lacking of enough and standard agricultural tools such as watering cans, irrigation pump among others affect productivity a the long run.

Financial risks
Here, farmers fail to have enough money for meeting daily expenses. More still, limited funding caused by higher interest rates, excessive borrowing, increased input costs, family needs, unfavorable exchange rates and lack of adequate credit reserves. To address the financial risks, farmers are reminded to develop strategies plans, control farm expenses, monitor financial ratios and enterprise benchmarks among others. Farming requires strong financial discipline. Also more money is needed to buy seeds and fertilizers in case the previous harvest was poor.

Marketing risks
This concerns limited or lack of market for agricultural produce. Marketing risks also happen when the price in the market is less compared to the quality of the product or the expected by producers. Competition in the market is another form of marketing risks where many people produce similar products to similar market. Failure to access the target market and the change of customer’s tastes and preferences are also causes of marketing risks in agriculture. Some time there can be many producers offering the same product hence Some times, productivity can be high with limited market or low prices to the expected price in the market. The major sources of marketing risks are the increased numbers of producers selling the same products.

Farmers are therefore obliged not to spend money any how after the first harvest so as to cover up the expenses in case of poor harvest in the next season.

In conclusion therefore, agriculture is a back born of Uganda. The government and all farmers should therefore invest in agriculture for greater productivity.