Meat inspectors refresher training to promote food safety in Uganda
Forty meat inspectors from 31 out of 135 districts across Uganda attended a refresher training in October, aimed to boost, retool and equip them in routine meat inspection procedures, hands-on skills in meat hygiene and food safety procedures as well as knowledge on meat inspection regulations and standards. The training, conducted over two weeks for two cohorts, was organized by the Boosting Uganda’s Investment in Livestock Development (BUILD) project funded by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and co-implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (COVAB) at Makerere University and others.
The training was conducted by a wide range of experts in academia, government, research, and the private sector and used simple participatory approaches such as brainstorming, questions and answers, self-discovery, hands-on and return demonstrations. Among topics covered was the legal framework for meat inspection in Uganda by Dr. Hoona Jolly Justine from MAAIF, co-leader of the BUILD-VPH component; transportation of slaughter animals by the Assistant Commissioner, Veterinary Public Health, Dr. Mwesige Theophilus; design and operation of an abattoir by Prof. Clovice Kankya; common conditions in sheep, gooats, cattle, poultry, and pigs observed before and after slaughter (ante and post mortem) by Dr. Terence Odoch, Dr. Wilfred Eneku and Dr. Mathias Afayoa from COVAB. Other topics covered included digital data collection using the Open Data Kit tool in regard to meat inspection; sampling, transport, reporting, and record keeping as well as ante and post mortem inspection in poultry by Mr. Badiru Muyanja from Ugachick, a private company in the Ugandan poultry sector; hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) by Mr. Justine Okello; water, sanitation and hygiene in the slaughter house by Ms. Ninsiima and Mr. James Muleme, the training coordinator.
Field visits were made to four abattoirs around Kampala including Prime meat packers, City abattoir (cattle and small ruminants), Kalerwe abattoir (cattle) and Wambizzi abattoir (pigs). In addition, a bovine inspection (ante mortem and post mortem) was demonstrated at the city abattoir. The field demonstrations provided participants with experiences outside their everyday activities through observation and excursion for education, experimental and experiential learning and enabled them to appreciate different ways of conducting inspection as well as inform on the traditional, usual and modern designs and operations of slaughter facilities. All participants were availed with smartphones and trained in disease surveillance using ODK software. The kits will be used in their meat inspection activities for record keeping and keeping track of animal disease dynamics. In the first six weeks after the training, more than 300 reports were uploaded by the meat inspectors.
Read an article by Makerere University here...
