Happy cows make for a happy farm in Uganda
For Loyda, steady and reliable milk production means the world, allowing her to pay for other essential needs, like children’s school fees and house maintenance expenses.
Through a South-South Cooperation project, technical experts from FAO and China taught Loyda and her staff how to prepare silage for her cows and store it in a bunker in case of a drought. ©FAO
“Everything is based on the well-being of our cows,” declares Loyda Twinomujuni, the Ugandan owner of a 150-acre farm with 80 cows and staffed with three employees. For Loyda and her staff, steady and reliable milk production means the world, allowing them to pay for their household needs, children’s school fees, house maintenance expenses and starting a family.
However, Loyda was deeply concerned: her animals were in poor health and produced little. “They don’t look okay. You can tell from their coats; they are not shiny.” Hunger, malnutrition and disease haunted the farm.
The biggest challenge was the lack of feed. The cows walk around the farm and eat the grass that grows naturally during the wet season, March to November, Loyda explained. However, when the dry season starts, the farm runs out of feed quickly. “We have cows that actually died of hunger,” Loyda adds sadly.
What’s worse, climate change has prolonged the dry season and drought hits the farm more often than ever before. Combined with pests and diseases, the ill-being of the cows casts a shadow on the income of the farm, threatening the livelihoods of Loyda and her workers.
“SSC helps a lot”
Despite all of these challenges, Loyda had large ambitions. Her goal was to be able to produce over 1 000 litres of milk per day, even though the farm was barely making 500 litres. She had no idea where to begin. Then she heard about an FAO project that was teaching farmers to enhance the production and productivity of their farms.
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