Expensive milk drew Mbazira into dairy farming

Dec 10, 2018

"I was tired of buying expensive milk in Kampala, yet I had milk in the village at sh200 per litre," she says.

BEST FARMERS  WINNER

Isingiro district is hot in July. The expansive farms that dot both sides of the road to Kikagate and further to the Tanzanian border are complete with black and white cows. About 12km from Mbarara, a tum off at Masha takes one through a murram road - also surrounded by farms.



A metallic gate is then opened, into a large compound, surrounded by grazing land. The farm has a main house, where the farmer lives, another structure - about 100 metres from the main house, that is used for processing yoghurt, a farm office attached to a milking parlour - about 50 metres from the yoghurt house plus a calf pen, about 20 metres from the office and milking parlour.

The grass is brownish," says Betty Mbaziira, as she walks through a piece of her grazing land, towards one of her two watering dams. Mbaziira has been keeping cows here for over 20 years. She also processes yoghurt which she sells in western Uganda, Kampala and Entebbe.

How she started
Mbaziira was born in a cattle keeping family. Her father, Esau Rukumba was a cattle-keeper. "When my husband and I got married in 1999, we were given many cows as presents," she says. Mbaziira comes from an Ankole community where newlyweds are given cattle as presents.

"My husband and I agreed to buy land and settle our cows there," she says. She does not remember how much money they spent on the land, which has since turned into home to over 60 well-maintained dairy cattle. Mbaziira was a businesswoman in Kampala for many years.

In fact, until her husband died in 2003, farming was largely a hobby. Her husband, Mbaziira, left her with young children.

"I used to come here once in a while and go back to Kampala to run my businesses," she says. She owned shops dealing in phones and electronics. But when her husband died, she realised that she would not be able to look after their children unless she supplemented her income with farm work.

"I was also tired of buying expensive milk in Kampala, yet I had milk in the village at sh200 per litre," she says. In 2007, she realised that she could not afford to educate her children in high profile schools.

"I realised in order to pay rent for the business premises. I had to sell my cows yet I was making losses," she says. She opted to sell her business in Kampala.

Today, she owns the famous Awa yoghurt line, whose product is sold across western and central Uganda. With over 80milking cows, she has constructed a yoghurt processing unit at her farm from which the yoghurt is processed and spread across tens of supermarket. She processes about 850litres of yoghurt per day.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});