Turkana County Government will recruit more Community Livestock Disease Reporters (CLDR)to boost surveillance and control of livestock diseases outbreak in the area.
The County Executive for Agriculture, Pastoral Economy and Fisheries Philip Aemun has acknowledged that the CLDR’s played a crucial role towards containment of the hemorrhagic septicemia disease outbreak among 15,000 camels that was reported last month, noting that additional livestock disease reporters would be recruited at the wards level and be placed at strategic movement and water points where livestock usually converge in large numbers.
Aemun spoke in Lodwar Tuesday, when he presided over the official opening of a 4-day training of CLDR on Livestock Disease Syndromes. The training organized by the County Veterinary Directorate in collaboration with the Concern Worldwide organization.
The training of the 15 Community Disease Reporters drawn from different parts of the County will add value to Livestock Diseases reporting, form part of data capture structures and in essence be part of response data generation for Turkana.
“There are plans by the Pastoral Economy department to develop policy and curriculum that will guide operations of the Community Disease Reporters to ease surveillance and enhance a free livestock disease zone through evidence based reporting,” he said.
The county executive lauded Naremieto self-group from Turkana West for determination to invest on fodder production that saw them get funding from GIZ organization, adding that the county government was committed to securing pastoralist livelihoods so as to increase food and nutrition security at the household level.
He thanked the Concern WorldWide for supporting the training, while calling on the organization to make sure that future partnership will strengthen value addition to by-products like milk as well as create linkages to big markets in other parts of the country.
This is an international humanitarian organization that has been collaborating with the county government since 2018 supporting health and nutrition as well as cash transfer activities across four sub-counties of Turkana South, Loima, Kibish and Turkana North.
The County Chief Officer for Fisheries, Livestock Production and Veterinary Services Abdullahi Yussuf stated that livestock partnership programmes had complemented Pastoral Economy department target to improve profitability and productivity of livestock as well as strengthening animal health.
Further, Yussuf called on the Community Disease Reporters to utilize the training and help improve disease reporting to control disease outbreaks and avert livestock deaths due to late identification of diseases.
The County Director of Veterinary Services Dr. Benson Longor said that plans were underway to recruit more CDR’s with focus on kraals to strengthen the E-surveillance system through a participatory disease surveillance.
By Peter Gitonga
