Milk runs out

Aug 18, 2009

THE prolonged drought has hit the dairy industry, leading to sharp consumer price increases as milk production falls by 50%.

By Catherine Bekunda & Jude Kafuuma

THE prolonged drought has hit the dairy industry, leading to sharp consumer price increases as milk production falls by 50%.

A litre of fresh pasteurised milk, which used to cost sh1,200 in May, now goes for sh2,000.

Uganda produces about 1.5 million litres of milk per day in good weather. Now as the weather gets harsher, only 750,000 litres is collected nationwide, said agriculture state minister Bright Rwamirama.

He blamed the fall on the “prolonged drought in the cattle corridor punctuated with water shortage and lack of pastures”.

Rwamirama was, however, optimistic that the situation would improve with the coming rains. “By October, milk supply will have increased because of good pastures,” he said. He disclosed that his ministry was encouraging farmers to store silage and hay during the wet season on which they can feed their animals during the dry season.

“We have budgeted for tractors which will help farmers dig valley tanks and ponds in their farms,” he said.

Rwamirama explained that farmers will only have to fuel the tractors. The ministry also plans to construct communal dams in the arid cattle corridor to reduce on the energy cattle spend searching for water.

Isha Muzira, the Dairy Development Agency manager, however, said there was no milk shortage but the demand had grown. “People have started taking milk in the villages and this has had a pull-effect on the supplies,” he said.

Leading producers and suppliers of milk have failed to meet the demand.

Rajesh Sharma, the head of Sameer, a leading dealer, said the quantity of milk supplied by farmers had slumped to 25%.

“We are receiving only 35,000 instead of 150,000 litres per day, despite doubling the farm gate price to sh800 from sh400 per litre,” noted Rajesh.

As a result of the sharp scarcity, he said, his company had stopped making milk powder, ultra heat treated milk, cream and butter since July, while Pouch milk and yogurt production had fallen to 25%, or just 3,000 litres of yogurt per day instead of the 12,000.

He added that his company was incurring high costs of production since farmers were adding 10% water to increase their milk quantity. To fill up the deficit, he said, his company was adding milk powder so as to meet the standard recommended by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the Dairy Development Authority.

Sameer is not alone in this. Kalerwe and Katwe dairy centres in Kampala also reported acute milk shortages yesterday. Katwe Fresh Dairy manager Ruth Namusoke said supplies had been cut from 20,000 litres daily to only 3,000.

“Even what we have today came after two days of collection from farmers who bring milk at our collection centre in Rushere in Mbarara,” Namusoke said.

She said since July pastoralists have moved to distant areas in search of pasture and water. Yesterday, a litre of milk at Katwe Dairy had shot up to sh1,000 from sh700.

“Even at this high price, our retail and wholesale customers fight to get the milk,” Namusoke added.

Hotels and supermarkets have not been spared either. By Sunday evening, most leading supermarkets in Kampala had run out of milk, and were selling a litre for sh2,000.

Justine Ssibyangu of the Kalerwe-based Ntenjeru Dairy Farm centre said because of the high prices, demand for milk had dropped. “We are worried because even during holidays when we thought sales would go high, people are not buying the milk,” said Ssibyangu.

“The Government should caution investors not to export all the good milk yet our local market is starved.”

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