NARO, Chinese University Partner on Livestock Research

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda reported that Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) has entered a research partnership with Southwest Minzu University (SMU) of China aimed at strengthening livestock disease research, veterinary diagnostics and laboratory capacity in Uganda. The collaboration was discussed at a meeting in Kampala on Wednesday at Fontis Residences Hotel, attended by NARO management and an SMU delegation led by the university’s vice president, Professor Yang Shengtao.

According to the report, the partnership will focus on animal husbandry and veterinary medicine and is expected to support better disease surveillance, faster development of diagnostic technologies and stronger scientific readiness for livestock disease outbreaks. Dr. Halid Kirunda, a NARO veterinary epidemiologist involved in leading the effort, said the work is to be structured as a five-year project still under development. He noted that Uganda faces more than 30 livestock diseases, complicating diagnosis and control for farmers.

NARO Director General Dr. Yona Baguma described the initiative as important for improving Uganda’s livestock disease diagnosis and research systems. He said affordable diagnostic tools could help farmers detect diseases at community level before wider spread, while adding that Uganda’s livestock laboratory system still needs investment to manage highly infectious animal diseases.

Professor Yang said the project is SMU’s first research collaboration in Africa and would include knowledge sharing, technology transfer, laboratory development and training opportunities for Ugandan students and scientists. Watchdog Uganda also reported that representatives from NARO’s zonal and national research institutes attended, and noted that the agreement adds to NARO’s wider international partnerships, including work with China’s BGI Group on perennial rice technology.