SLU news

A course on artificial insemination of cows in Uganda

Published: 25 February 2019

AgriFoSe2030 and Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine organized an artificial inseminators re-tooling course on the 11-13 February 2019. The aim was to encourage farmers in Uganda to use artificial insemination.

In a previous investigation it was found that many farmers in the Luwero district had been discouraged from using artificial insemination (AI) when animals fail to conceive on the first insemination. Possible causes for the repeats included contradictory messages from the AI technicians regarding the correct reporting and timing of Al in relation to the heat signs.

– Therefore, we found it necessary to re-tool technicians on proper timing for AI and develop common code for advising farmers on reporting heat, says Sofia Boqvist, theme leader of theme 4 in the AgriFoSe2030 project.

The course was attended by 20 AI technicians operating in four different coverage areas. The course was delivered by a team of experts drawn from Makerere University, SLU and the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industries and Fisheries in Uganda.

The participants of the course.

The participant appreciated the new knowledge as well as improved skills. For the project team, valuable lessons were learnt from the experience that would help better organization and delivery.

These included the need to have a critical number of participants that makes economic sense and contributes to the needed critical mass of change agents; have more practical hands on experience during the training; using nearby farms with a bigger number of animals that could permit the technicians conduct actual inseminations during the training as well as budgeting.


Contact

Portrait photo of a woman, photo.Sofia Boqvist, Associate Professor

Programme Director of AgriFoSe2030
Dept. of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, SLU
Phone: +46 18-67 23 88, +46 72-240 34 94
E-mail: Sofia.Boqvist@slu.se

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