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President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday expressed his concerns regarding a controversial new innovation at Makerere University.
During the launch of this year’s Research and Innovations Week at the university, Museveni was introduced to a project involving incorporating fish and meat into cow feed.
The project quickly raised alarms for the president, who questioned the scientific and cultural implications of such a practice.
Museveni in his remarks, expressed unease over the idea of cows consuming animal by-products, such as fish and offals, as part of their diet.
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I just saw in the stalls people who are making animal feeds. I saw that they are making cows eat fish… that the cow feeds contain fish and offals.
The president warned against moving away from traditional agricultural practices, stating that there should be a return to indigenous knowledge and heritage.
He asked whether feeding cows human food could affect the natural characteristics of cow dung, which is traditionally different from human waste in terms of smell and handling.
In Ankole, human faeces has a name, and is very smelly because of what humans eat. We eat cereals, meats etc. Cows, on the other hand, also have a name for their dung, which is less smelly; we even handle it and use it to decorate our homes.
But now I am beginning to get worried. If a cow eats human food, does it still produce its natural dung?
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He further questioned whether the digestive system of cows, which are herbivores, could even handle such diets.
Chickens and pigs can be fed on meat because even in nature, they can handle it, but cows, goats, and sheep, we need to find other ways that don’t involve feeding them with meat
The president suggested that while science may present new opportunities, some practices should be deemed "taboo" and rejected, particularly when they disrupt natural systems.
Support from Animal Health Experts
Dr. Anna Rose Ademunm, the Commissioner of Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, supported the president's concerns, explaining the potential risks of meat-based feeds for livestock.
She clarified that goats and cows, with their four-chambered stomachs, are naturally designed to digest grass and chew cud.
“But when we feed these livestock with refined food, we are distorting their system,” she warned.
Dr. Ademunm also brought up the link between feeding animals meat-based diets and the emergence of diseases like mad cow disease, suggesting that such practices could be dangerous for both the animals and consumers.