The major livestock diseases in the region are East Coast Fever (ECF), a
tick-borne disease, and trypanosomiasis, a tsetse-fly-borne disease. The cost of controlling these diseases is high and sometimes unaffordable. Free grazing exposes animals to these diseases, while the zero-grazing system minimizes the exposure. At present, dairy cows are available from upcountry but at US$700 per cow they are expensive. The government supported a program of artificial insemination to upgrade the local cows but it is currently undergoing restructuring and the services are not readily available.