By Joshua Kato
In Vvumba, on the Gayaza-Zirobwe road, about 50km from Kampala city, sits Sanyu Piggery Farm.
Inside the well-constructed structures are about 1,600 pigs, all of which are being prepared for slaughter.
‘Sanyu’ means ‘happiness’ and certainly these pigs are ‘happy’ as they are being prepared for the slaughterhouse.
“We have about 1,600 pigs that are sequenced out for slaughter on different days,” Joseph Moon, the director, says.
The piggery is run under a comparatively modern system and managed by 15 workers.
“We give them feed rations that will help them gain the right weight in about fi ve months,” Moon says.
Every pig that leaves this farm is driven to Kiti, about 40km away near Matugga, to a facility called Mbizi Products Ltd, for slaughter.
This is perhaps one of the most modern pig slaughterhouses in the country. “We decided to invest in the piggery value chain purposely to improve the quality of pork and pork products that are produced in the country,” says.
Moon has previously invested in several farming and agriculture enterprises in Uganda, which include dairy and grains.
However, his latest investment is piggery. According to the International Livestock Research Institute, Ugandans are eating more pork — nearly 3.5kg per head every year and rising. But there is a massive shortage of pig abattoirs.
Most butchers across the country have to process their meat in backyard, unhygienic slaughter sites.
The country has about five million pigs, according to the agriculture ministry. Moon says the pork industry plays a significant role in providing a protein source for millions of people in Uganda; however, there are great concerns behind the scenes about public health — unhygienic slaughterhouses that are a threat to human health and the environment.
Other concerns include poor feeding, poor pre-slaughter management, poor deboning, transporting and storage facilities and systems.
The modern abattoir
This is why, when he started keeping pigs, Moon also worked with stakeholder groups to import a modern slaughterhouse where every process is almost automated.
Located in Kiti village, Wakiso district the facility has a holding house for over 100 pigs, an electric stunning system, a mechanised neck cutting system, automated dehairing, automated carcass splitting and a conveyer belt that delivers the pork to the cold storage rooms.
The facility can slaughter about 200 pigs per day at full capacity. Moon says the abattoir cost over$100,000 (about sh376m) minus the warehouse structure.
He adds that while he had the option of taking his pigs for slaughter at any of the slaughterhouses in Greater Kampala, the hygiene conditions there put him off. Known smaller pig abattoirs are found in Gayaza, Wakiso, Wambizi in Rubaga and Kireka in Wakiso.
Byron Kizito, a veterinary offi cer and livestock inspector, says any kind of action that stresses animals before slaughter affects the meat.
“Any bruises as a result of hard loading, beatings from the holding shed to the slaughter house, stunning using blunt objects, or even slitting their necks without stunning will affect the meat,” Kizito says.
Dr Esther Nakajubi, a veterinary offi cer, pig farmer and trainer at the Harvest Money Expo, agrees: “Pigs that are due for slaughter must be ‘pampered’ so that the pork produced is not contaminated. Beating or shoving them around affects the meat.”
The Kiti abattoir uses machines to lift, wash and dehair the pigs, as well as sever the head, collect the blood, which is then processed into fertiliser. The facility has a complete wastewater management system too.
Pamper pigs before slaughter
Moon says the welfare of slaughter animals and meat hygiene is a concern worldwide, with developed countries having humane slaughter regulations and acts that ensurethat human-consumed animals are killed quickly, painlessly and without suffering. This produces good meat.
“Mishandling animals leads to excessive pre-slaughter stress and the poor hygiene conditions of the slaughter area,” he says.
Moon explains that animals may suffer from pre-slaughter stress arising from bruises, injuries, starvation, loading, and off-loading onto vehicles.
On arrival at the Mbizzi abattoir, the pigs are weighed before being held in a clean shed with automated water-drinking taps. They are given only water because they have less than 12 hours before slaughter.
On slaughter day, the pigs are washed before being electronically stunned and seconds later, their jugular vein is cut using a machine.
In the next step, the blood automatically collects through an opening in the slaughter basin. The head is then sliced off. This process takes less than five minutes.
The carcass is machine-cleaned again, before the conveyer takes it to the dehairing section. The hair is automatically collected in another section. Once this is done, the carcass is conveyed to the slicer, where internal organs are removed by machines.
Then finally, to the body slicer. Once this is done, the conveyer delivers the meat to the storage cold room. This entire process takes less than 20 minutes.
On the contrary, in other slaughterhouses, pigs are physically stunned, usually hit on the head with a heavy metal.
The pig’s jugular vein and neck are cut with a knife, leaving it to die with a lot of pain and stress on the floor.
At the common slaughterhouses, the pigs are left on the floor for 10-30 minutes before being dipped in the boiling tank until when the slaughterman determines they are ready for dehairing, then the hair is removed using razorblades or a metal cup, which is a rough process.
Moon says water sources and effluent disposal in pig abattoirs are important for hygiene. However, there is no other abattoir with a clear system of waste disposal. Instead, most of it is pushed through to the nearest swamp and stream around.
Buying from other farmers
In addition to his own pigs, Moon also buys animals from a string of farmers around Wakiso.
“However, the pigs must meet our requirements,” he says.
Moon adds that the pig should be around six months old and weigh about 90kg.
He says once a customer delivers a pig, it is checked by the facility veterinary officer for health and weighed before it is taken into the holding shed. The pig must be free of any bruises.
“We buy live weight at sh8,000 per kilogramme,” he says.
This means that a farmer is paid an average sh720,000 per animal.
Marketing
Joseph Moon, the director Sanyu Piggery Farm says transportation of pork products is important in maintaining quality and hygiene.
“We sell pork parts, chops, bacon and sausages and all these leave the facility in cold truck containers or individuals with cold boxes before they are delivered to consumers,” he says.
In most abattoirs, processed pork is usually packed in polypropylene sacks and transported by motorbike to butchers or pork joints around town. This is associated with a lot of contamination along the way.
“Prioritising sustainable humane slaughter practices is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move to align with consumer values,” he says.
Moon sells his pork to mainly hotels, restaurants and supermarkets in Kampala and Wakiso.
“The price is slightly higher, but it is actually lower if you factor in the quality of the processes,” he says.
Christopher Mulindwa, a piggery trainer, consultant and pig keeper, says the investment in such modern facilities will help change the face of the pig value chain in the country.
PHOTO CAPTION: Workers at the Mbizi Products abattoir. The facility also does value addition. Courtesy photo
