Ntungamo farmers express concern over low milk price

Ntungamo

Dairy farmers in Ntungamo District have expressed concern over the falling prices of milk at a time when the cost of farm inputs is rising. They said there is no point in investing more in the industry to improve production when there is no market for the existing produce.

Under their Ntungamo Dairy Farmers Cooperative Union, they said they are being cheated by middlemen who pay them peanuts for their milk and reap bigger profits after adding little value.

The farmers said they formed a cooperative union to get better market prices for their milk but there is little difference from the situation before when they were selling to individuals.

They said they had been promised support to build a factory for value addition but the promise has not been fulfilled. They did not say who had made the promise. Dairy farmers in western region had organised themselves under Uganda Crane Creameries Cooperative Union (UCCCU) to set up a milk processing factory to help them get higher prices but the project has not taken off.

Currently, the farmers are paid Shs600 per litre with a deduction of Shs100 for the Union.

Mr Kojo Asiimwe, the chairperson representing Kitwe dairy farmers, said with reducing milk prices, farmers do not see a reason to improve their farms’ productivity. He said some farmers have instead started diverting to other activities such as piggery, apiary and banana growing.

“Culturally, we don’t keep pigs, but this is about money. Milk business is no longer profitable. We are doing business and a business that has no profit is not business,” Mr Kojo said.

Mr Phillip Baitwa of Nshenyi dairy farmers, said with increasing prices of farm inputs and veterinary drugs, fake inputs have become common on the market. “There is no strong quality control for animal drugs, what we are buying is at a very high price and no one is controlling it. If milk remains at the current price, we are quitting the business. We are making losses but because we don’t compute, we think we are in business,” he said during a meeting of farmers this week.

The chairman of Ntungamo Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative Union, Mr Polly Matsiko, however, insisted farmers had been getting a fair price compared to other districts. “The price we are getting is not much but this is the highest on the market.

Farmers in Isingiro are getting Shs300, in Kiruhura it is Shs400, Shs500 in Mbarara and here it is Shs600. Farmers should cerebrate as they demand a higher price,” said Mr Matsiko.

Processed milk goes for between Shs1,500 and 3,000 a litre. Milk vendors sell a litre of raw milk at between Shs1,000 and Shs 2,000 on local market.

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