Ankole Cow Villages set to boost community tourism

Mr Robert Mwesigwa Rukaari, the proprietor of Mwesigwa Resort Farm and MP for Mbarara City North, stated that the Ankole Cow Villages will serve as a hub for Ankole cultural education and Ankole cow products.

“The Ankole Cow Village is intended to boost both domestic and international tourism. At these villages there will be showcasing of different products from the Ankole cow like cheese, Ankole culture but also training and skilling on cattle keeping, especially to schools,”Mr Rukaari explained on Monday.

He emphasized that it is no longer sufficient to focus solely on traditional tourism attractions such as wildlife, mountains, lakes, and rivers. 

“Tourism remains one of the major sources of revenue in the country and this is through conservation of the attractions that boasts this, but you don’t only conserve wildlife, mountains or environment, we need our own domestic animals and culture. We are convinced that if we conserve the Ankole longhorn cow it will bring in revenue like the gorillas,” he added.

Mr Edmand Aryampika from Destination Ankole, a supporting group for this initiative, mentioned that the villages will act as conservation areas for the Ankole longhorn cow and create employment opportunities.

“These villages are set to bring in all stakeholders in Ankole cow value chain, and this will include farmers, business people and government who will establish their infrastructure for business opportunities but also conservation,” he said.  

Mr Emmanuel Kamihingo, the proprietor of the Kamihingo farm, expressed confidence that the initiative will revive the Ankole cow, which is on the brink of extinction but also sensitise communities on the various benefits of this cow.   

“Some cattle keepers had abandoned the Ankole cow for exotic breeds because of commercial benefits like increased milk production but they forgot other benefits that were associated with this cow like promoting culture and income,” he said.

Ms Winnie Nduhukire, the recently crowned Ankole Cattle Queen, appealed to the youth to engage with the cow villages.

“The young people will benefit much from these villages through conservation and skills training not only on Ankole cows but other benefits of conservation, I appeal to them to be part of this initiative,” she said.

Background

In the past, longhorn cattle were highly valued in the Ankole region. However, cattle keepers gradually shifted to exotic breeds such as Friesian and Boran cows to increase profits from milk and meat sale. The Ankole Cow Villages initiative aims to reverse this trend and highlight the cultural and economic benefits of preserving the Ankole longhorn cow.