Dry spell pushes milk prices up
Milk is fetched from a bucket. The commodity’s price has been increasing due to scarcity of supplies in addition to the dry spell experienced in the country from December last year. PHOTO BY RACHEL MABALA
What you need to know:
Contributing factor. The dry spell which started in December last year is partly to blame for the rise in milk prices.
Kampala.
More people with the appetite for milk are finding it hard to include it on their daily menu because its price has gone up.
Experts in the industry attribute the hike in prices to scarcity of supplies which have been caused by the dry spell which started in December last year.
Ms Samusha Musinguzi, who owns a retail shop in Mpererwe, says the price started going up about two weeks ago.
“We have been buying a litre at Shs1,800 at the depot. But since then a litre has gone up to Shs2,200,” Ms Musinguzi explains.
However, the milk at the depot is not enough for the demand in the area, pushing the dealer to ration it.
“You can only take three litres. A litre is now at Shs2000 at that depot but it’s rare to find milk. So, we are now buying from supermarkets like Shoprite at Shs1,900 but still you only find Fresh Dairy yet we prefer Jesa.”
Since we go for many days without milk at the shop, we have hiked prices to Shs2,600 a litre to make some profits.”
Supermarket price
At Uchumi Supermarket, the situation is not any different. Prices started going up last week and currently, a litre of packaged milk goes between Shs2,000 and Shs2,300 up from Shs1,800.
Ms Sauda Nazimuli, the Uchumi purchasing assistant, said: “The dry spell in the entire country is responsible for the low supplies and this has seen the prices go up.”
At Uchumi, a litre of Mega full cream milk goes for Shs2,000 up from Shs1,800, Jesa Dairies currently costs Shs2,100, while a litre of Fresh Dairy now costs Shs2,000, up from Shs1,800.
At Capital shoppers, the price of Jesa Dairies has moved to Shs2,200, up from Shs2,000, while Fresh Dairy now costs Shs2,300, up from Shs2,000 and Mega Full Cream costs Shs2,100.
Annually, Uganda produces close to 1.9 billion litres of milk.
statistics about milk production in Uganda
According to Dairy Development Authority (DDA), it is estimated that 70 per cent (about 1.05 billion litres) of the milk produced is marketed commercially and the other 30 per cent is consumed on the farm.
Uganda is divided into six milk sheds based on the differences in geographical agro ecological characteristics, market dynamics and cattle population. Central and South western milk sheds together contribute 50 per cent of the total production. The other milk sheds particularly Eastern and Northern experience a deficit of marketable milk almost throughout the year and are referred to as milk deficit areas while South-Western and Central regions experience a surplus of milk in the wet season.
price of milk in different supermarkets
Shs2,000 is the price of a litre of Mega full cream milk at Uchumi supermarket, up from Shs1,800.
Shs2,200 is the price of a litre of Jesa Dairies at Capital Shoppers, up from Shs2,000.
Shs2,300 is the Price of a litre of Fresh Dairy milk at Capital Shoppers, up from Shs2,000. .
