Livestock Identification and Traceability System implementation process discussed
14 December 2016 – The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry hosted delegates from IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development from Kenya recently.
The objective of this visit by the Kenyans was to share information on the practical implementation of the Livestock Identification and Traceability System (LITS) focusing on both commercial and small scale livestock production systems, as well as discuss the benefits of LITS.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Anna Shiweda at the event said “Namibia is honored to be sharing our experiences in our Namibia Livestock Identification and Traceability System (NamLITS) with our brothers and sisters from African continent”.
“We believe that through such interaction we can strengthen deer Intra-Africa collaboration,” she added.
Shiweda said in order to ensure good animal health management and safe trade in animals and animal products it is important to have a functional a livestock and Traceability system.
“Our system is based on individual identification of animals using ear tags, registration of animals on the farms or holdings, management of central database and issuance of a movement permits,” she said.
According to her, the system is working well for Namibia, despite a few challenges which are manageable.
“The full implementation process and its challenges will be explained to you by our technical officials from the Directorate of Veterinary Service,” she added.
Meanwhile, the deputy minister said Namibia currently has 2.2 million cattle, around 2 million sheep and 2.1 million goats and most of these animals are distributed throughout the country with the majority of them northern Communal Areas.
