THE number of cattle in the country stood at 11.4 million at the end of last year, an increase of 3.9 million compared to three years ago, according to the just released national livestock census.
The western, central and eastern regions had 2.5 million head of cattle each.
Karamoja had 2.3 million while the rest of northern Uganda registered 1.6 million.
Of all the districts, Kotido has the largest herd - almost 700,000. Kampala’s cattle population, on the other hand, went down, from 48,000 in 2002 to 32,000 last year.
Agriculture minister Hope Mwesigye attributed the general increase to the new markets in the region, peace in northern Uganda and the Government’s efforts to restock parts of north-eastern Uganda.
“Other government interventions like the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme have also played a significant role.”
According to the report, the soaring beef prices are an indication of increased demand for beef.
“The growing domestic demand has been supplemented by the growing demand from the neighbouring countries, for example Southern Sudan and the DR Congo.”
The number of goats, too, saw a sharp increase: from 8.5 million in 2005 to 12.5 million by the end of last year.
The west has the largest goat population (3.5 million), followed by the north (2.7 million).
In terms of districts, Nakapiripirit topped the list with almost 550,000 goats.
There were 3.4 million sheep by late last year, according to the census. Of those, half were in Karamoja. Kotido district had over half a million sheep.
Of the estimated 3.2 million pigs in Uganda, the central region had the highest, or 1.3 million, while Masaka topped the district ranking with slightly over a quarter of a million pigs.
The chicken population stood at 37.4 million by the end of 2008, an increase of almost 14 million to 2005.
With 10.7 million birds, eastern Uganda had the highest number, followed by the west with 7.2 million birds.
As to ducks, northern and eastern Uganda registered the highest number.
Out of the estimated 1.5 million ducks in the country, some 450,000 are in the north.
