Uganda Targets Tsetse Flies in 41 Districts to Protect Livestock

Farmers in Uganda’s tsetse-hit areas face a threat to their animals and livelihoods, but getting insecticide into their hands is also a concern for the government. As authorities launched distribution to 41 high-risk districts, State Minister for Animal Industry Bright Rwamirama warned officials against short-changing farmers and selling the supplies left over, according to Nile Post Uganda (direct).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries is distributing deltamethrin, an insecticide used to control pests on livestock. The campaign targets tsetse flies, which spread trypanosomiasis, a disease that affects animals and can also cause sleeping sickness in people. In livestock, the disease is commonly called nagana. The distribution is intended to reduce transmission and protect livestock productivity in areas where the flies remain a problem.

Protecting animals—and getting supplies to farmers

Rwamirama launched the programme as part of the government’s wider strategy to eliminate tsetse flies in Uganda. Supplies will go to high-risk districts across several sub-regions, including Acholi, Ankole and Buganda. Deltamethrin works against ticks and biting flies as well as tsetse flies, making it a tool for livestock pest control. In this campaign, its distribution is focused on suppressing tsetse populations and the disease they carry.

The minister’s warning put district-level handling of the chemicals firmly in focus. He singled out the risk of officials giving farmers less than the recommended amount and keeping the balance to sell. His message was directed at Chief Administrative Officers, with an explicit warning that those found doing so would face arrest. That makes the delivery of the intended quantities to farmers a central issue alongside the distribution itself.

Rwamirama warned that Chief Administrative Officers found withholding part of farmers’ recommended allocation for sale would be arrested.

The stakes extend beyond the health of individual animals. The government links the intervention to protecting livestock production and the livelihoods that depend on it. Tsetse flies continue to threaten production in several parts of Uganda, Rwamirama said. The latest supplies are expected to help reduce that pressure by suppressing the insects in districts identified as high risk, while lowering the transmission of trypanosomiasis.

A wider threat needs more than chemicals

Rwamirama also pointed to concerns for communities and tourism. Tsetse flies occur in some areas around wildlife conservation zones, bringing the issue beyond farms alone. Their ability to transmit disease makes them a human-health concern as well as a livestock pest. The minister presented the distribution as one part of a response to these overlapping threats, rather than solely an animal-treatment exercise.

Uganda and its partners have previously used livestock spraying, insecticide-treated traps and other measures to control the insects that spread the disease. The new distribution builds on those efforts. Officials nevertheless stressed that supplying chemicals alone cannot sustainably eliminate the disease: surveillance, farmer education and other controls remain important to prevent the flies from returning.

The next test is therefore both delivery and follow-through. Attention turns to whether farmers receive the recommended quantities and whether chemical distribution is supported by continued monitoring and other control measures. Those are the challenges officials have identified in turning this round of supplies into lasting protection for livestock and livelihoods.