Menongue - More than 50,000 heads of cattle will be vaccinated in the next 60 days in the province of Cuando Cubango, against the main diseases that affect the animal population in that province, in a campaign that will involve 42 technicians.
This involves vaccination against nodular dermatitis, symptomatic and hematic anthrax, bovine peripneumonia, among other diseases that are endemic in the southern region of Angola.
The opening vaccination campaign, which took place today, in the village of Luassenha, municipality of Cuchi, was guided by the governor of Cuando Cubango, José Martins, and witnessed by members of the Government, traditional and religious authorities and the population of the district.
The provincial director of the agriculture, livestock and fisheries office in Cuando Cubango, José Luís Jonatão Navalha, said that the campaign will cover the province's nine municipalities.
The municipal administrator of Cuchi, Joaquim Assureira de Oliveira, considered it important to open the vaccination campaign in his jurisdiction, where 12,824 heads of cattle will be covered.
For his part, the governor of Cuando Cubango, José Martins, made it known that the province, for this campaign, received 115 thousand doses of vaccines from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, but that, taking into account the number of animal population recorded, are insufficient.
He indicated, on the occasion, that the population of rural areas in this region of the country's wealth is the raising of cattle, goats, pigs and chickens, highlighting that it is with cattle that peasant families are able to produce land, transport agricultural products, field for housing areas, among other uses through carts.
He recognized the use, by peasant families, of animal-drawn cattle, since tractors have high costs, both in its purchase and in maintenance, which is why the Government made available means and vaccines for the immunization of cattle.
Given the high number of animals controlled in Cuando Cubango in relation to the doses provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, José Martins assured that municipal administrations, through the implementation of the Poverty Combat Program, will make up for the deficit in covering the animal population.
He asked livestock farmers, traditional authorities and religious entities to collaborate with the vaccination teams throughout the 60-day campaign, aiming to prevent more frequent diseases.
The governor encouraged the population of Cuchi to continue investing in agricultural production as it is the breadbasket of Cuando Cubango, especially grains (corn and millet), as well as investing in beans.
José Martins recalled that the Angolan Government is strenuously engaged in agricultural production, through the support it is giving to family farming, as it is proven that large quantities of food that reach the population's table and the market are produced by family farmers.
It should be noted that the agriculture, livestock and fisheries office in Cuando Cubango has control of more than 621 thousand animals, specifically cattle, goats, pigs, horses and donkeys. ALK/FF/PLB/TED/DOJ
