Uganda is Number one Pork consumer in Africa, and second Worldwide

When an evening, weekend or public falls in the pearl of Africa, most citizens whether in the corporate world or in some rural areas start making calls, sending messages rallying each other to turnup for “Kikalayi” like most of them would call it.

It has become a norm that when people leave work, the next stopover before home should be pork joint. Most of them do not even care how untidy the place is, all they need to see is that appetizing meat on their plates.

Pork in Uganda is commonly served with matooke or Cassava. Whereas the Muslim community does not consume the long mouthed animal, it does not stop the other people from throwing its delicacy in their eyes.

A kilo of pork presently goes for 10,000 Shillings, way too expensive for many Ugandans. But this is no hinderance to their appetite.

Now, Ugandans' raving appetite for pork makes them the biggest consumers of pork in Africa.

The development was revealed by Dr Ben Lukuyu, the Uganda Country Representative of the International Livestock Research Institute.

Dr. Lukuyu was today morning presenting research findings on sweet potato and production of silage from vines for growing pigs at the Roots, Tubers and Bananas end of project meeting in Entebbe.

The research, conducted in Masaka and Kamuli districts, explored linkages between sweet potato production and growing of pigs for consumption and commerce.

Dr Lukuyu, an animal nutritionist, said the per capita consumption of pork in Uganda is 3.5 kilogrammes, making Uganda the biggest consumer of pork in Africa and second to China globally.

He added that 1.1 million households keep pigs and 3.5 smallholder farmers directly depend on growing pigs, while millions others are employed in the value chain.   

Dr Lukuyu said that while the pigs sub-sector is growing by leaps and bounds, it is facing a number of challenges like high cost of feeds, poor quality and quantity of feeds; hence the need to explore usage of potato vines.

He said although the growing of pigs and demand for pork is huge and growing, performance of Ugandan pigs in terms of weight gain and growth is relatively poor yet the potential of feeds is high.

Dr Lukuyu said there is an opportunity to exploit the wide availability of sweet potato vines, as well as other variety of feeds to boost piggery, adding that sweet potato vines offer better digestibility in pigs.

Dr Lukuyu added that the pig production industry is showing no sign of slowing down, hence the need to promote it.