New animal slaughterhouse opens in Torit, South Sudan
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in South Sudan is contributing to the improvement of human and animal health through the construction of an animal slaughterhouse in the town of Torit.
Meat hygiene is a major public health issue in South Sudan. For many years, people living in and around the town of Torit had no hygienic facilities for livestock slaughter. A slaughter slab which was in place until 2011 was removed due to the construction of an airstrip and since then people have been slaughtering animals on the ground. This left Torit’s growing urban population (estimated at 99 740) at a high risk of contracting meat-borne diseases.
The slaughterhouse facility is fully equipped with the capacity to slaughter 20 to 25 cattle and 25 to 30 sheep and goats a day. Meat is now processed in a clean environment, which prevents spoilage and contamination with dirt and infectious agents. Economic losses related to meat processing will be minimized and waste management will reduce environmental contamination. The meat inspection process helps prevent diseases such as tuberculosis that can be transmitted from animals to human beings and also supports the general surveillance and reporting of livestock diseases.
“This slaughterhouse will create awareness on importance of ante-mortem inspection to assess the animal’s suitability for slaughter and eventual human consumption and post-mortem inspection to confirm suitability for human consumption,” explains Tafiqul Islam, head of the FAO office in Torit.
“It will also enhance the skills and knowledge on solid and liquid waste management to ensure proper disposal of waste in the slaughter facility.”
Slaughterhouse to be managed through public-private partnership
Responsibility for the management of the slaughterhouse was officially handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Resources, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Torit State on 14 December 2018. The ministry is in the process of establishing a public-private business management structure for the facility.
“The ministry will fully provide the technical staff to work closely with the private sector in managing the facility,” pledged Clement Laku Chichim, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Animal Resources, Fisheries and Cooperatives for Torit State.
Torit State Deputy Governor, Margret Itto, urged the butchers association to properly maintain the facility.
“This Slaughterhouse is well constructed and clean and you need to keep it clean and maintain it,” she said at the handing-over ceremony. “Many diseases affecting the people like typhoid, malaria, diarrhea come through poor hygiene. Therefore, keep the facility clean and safe.”
This project is part of a US$756 984 assistance package provided to South Sudan by the Government of the Republic of Italy, under the project “Food security through commercialization of the agricultural sector in marginalized areas in Kenya and South Sudan under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) framework, with focus on women and youth” and was complemented by funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) under the project “Strengthening the resilience of households to food insecurity in South Sudan”.
Podcast: South Sudan slaughterhouse will help improve animal and human health