The US aid agency, USAID, says it is facilitating awareness message campaigns targeting cattle markets, assisting in veterinary medical camps, and organising hands-on training for butchers on improved slaughtering techniques and practices in Bangladesh ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha.
The USAID funded Feed the Future Bangladesh Livestock and Nutrition Activity tied up with the government’s Department of Livestock Services to carry out the awareness message dissemination campaign in and around cattle markets in 16 southern districts.
Campaign vans with colorful banners and audio messages are promoted to disperse knowledge on effective ways to recognise healthy cattle, hygienic and environmentally friendly slaughtering, efficient meat processing, proper waste disposal, COVID-19 health regulations, and the importance of consuming dietarily diversified and nutritious meat and dairy products.
Livestock Service Providers trained by the Activity are also assisting the veterinarian doctors providing first-aid and medical services at the ‘Veterinary Medical Camps’ for cattle, organised by the Department of Livestock Services.
Moreover, the Activity also facilitated hands-on training for butchers on improved slaughtering techniques and practices, meat processing, transporting, and marketing, through informative flip charts, multimedia materials, and training manuals.
The Feed the Future Bangladesh Livestock and Nutrition Activity is a five-year, $20.5 million programme which is aimed at increasing livestock productivity, marketability, and consumption of livestock products for improved nutrition and incomes for one million livestock-producing households and firms in the 23 target districts.
In recent times, the Activity in collaboration with its partner The ACME Laboratories Ltd., celebrated “World Zoonoses Day 2022” on July 06.
Zoonotic diseases are commonly referred to as contagious illnesses brought on by pathogens that can spread between animals and humans. Awareness messages via mobile phone SMS’ were sent out to make the mass population aware of such ailments.
A partnership agreement on "Increasing livestock productivity through the provision of better Artificial Insemination (AI) services for livestock" was recently signed between Activity and the BRAC Artificial Insemination (AI) Enterprise.
As part of this partnership, BRAC AI Enterprise will carry out a number of activities to improve the artificial insemination service, including an inception workshop, baseline study, training for new AI service providers, veterinary health camps, mobile veterinary clinics, and progeny shows, among others.
Furthermore, the Activity teamed up with 68 veterinary interns from the “Veterinary Medicine” faculty of the “Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University”, to facilitate farm management training for farmers and other livestock beneficiaries on efficient animal husbandry practices and farm cost-benefit analysis.
The intern vet doctors attended 566 farmers and supported 175 LSPs in animal health and household nutrition campaigns, the USAID said in a statement.
