Digital livestock identification and traceability system, a first for North-West Province

In an effort to align the agricultural sector of the province with the developments in technologies globally, MEC Desbo Mohono of Agriculture and Rural Development in the North West has today, Thursday 19 May 2022 announced that the province will soon upgrade the paper-based system of tracing animals to a modern and computerized livestock identification and traceability system, LITS. 

LITS is a national IT database system that will be used to trace animals and animal products from farm to fork/plate. This is a system that traces not only origin of animals but also chemicals that animals have been subjected to.

It has a great recompense to use in that it helps disease control. With this technology, one can prevent or know ahead of time the disease status of animals that are allowed to come into the province. The system can also significantly reduce response time during animal disease outbreak by helping to contain the introduction and spread of contagious diseases.

When she was speaking at the Legislature today, MEC Desbo Mohono said, introduction of LITS technologies within the agricultural supply chain promises not only increased efficiencies through enhanced data management and more robust traceability but also enhanced food safety protocols.

The use of LITS will also open up exotic markets for farmers that were previously closed because of lack of tracing and identifying of the origin of animals and animal products by the farm where elementary activities can be accounted for. The system will help to monitor the use of banned substances and antibiotics.

For all of these reasons, introduction of this system will benefit all animal and food producers and processors.

The process has started wherein operators are being registered in the national database. This will be followed by registering farms and facilities before individual animals are registered. The system is expected to provide information on animals and animal products and a reliable monitoring mechanism that will strengthen the government’s regulatory function in the livestock sub-sector.

Other than LITS, MEC Mohono has also announced that the Department will embark on a process of digitizing the administration of its veterinary laboratory services which will be done through the introduction of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS).

Source: Government of South Africa