![]() ![]() ![]() Pig keeping has grown in popularity as a livelihood activity due to their high reproduction rates, rapid weight gain, potential to provide quick financial returns, and rising demand for pork. The domestic pig population in Uganda, currently estimated at 3.2 million, plays an essential economic and social role in a country, in which 70% of households derive some or all of their livelihoods directly from livestock (Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2008). Finally, given their role as a link between farmers and consumers, traders would benefit from targeted inclusion in disease control and prevention strategies. Improvements in local pork slaughterhouses and markets will benefit not only pig traders in accessing consistent customers but also individual pig farmers by increasing their market access. This study has provided baseline information on pig trader practices in Uganda. All pig traders were aware of clinical signs indicating a pig was sick. Traders preferred buying live pigs from male farmers (88.9%) because they were considered the final decision makers and owned the pigs being sold. High prices paid at farm gate were associated with holiday periods ( P < 0.001), harvest season ( P < 0.001), and drought ( P < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference in the high price paid per kilogram at farm gate by region ( P = 0.005). Most of the pigs brought for processing at the slaughterhouse were purchased from smallholder farms (87.3%). All the traders were male, and nearly all (90.5%) relied on pig trading as their primary source of income. This study interviewed pig traders operating at Uganda’s only registered pork abattoir to describe their characteristics, business practices, biosecurity practices, and pig health management and reporting practices. ![]() Historically, biosecurity measures have primarily been focused at farm level, ignoring the important function pig traders fulfill between farmers and consumers. Introduction and expansion of pig production systems in this biodiverse landscape may create new risks, including zoonotic pathogen transmission. ![]() East Africa is undergoing rapid expansion of pig rearing, driven by increasing pork consumption. ![]()
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