Dairy farmers cry foul over drop in milk prices

Mr Moses Mugarura is a livestock farmer with 60 dairy cows at Lwembajjo Village, Rakai District.
Despite supplying up to 18,000 litres of milk monthly, Mugarura’s monthly income has dropped from Shs1.8 million per month to about Shs1 million.

“I spend huge sums of money tending my farm. Dairy cows are very expensive and need extra care but I have realised I’m at a loss,” he says.

But Mr Mugarura is not alone, as other livestock farmers countrywide are facing a similar plight.
Some of the farmers Daily Monitor interviewed in the districts of Rakai, Lyantonde, Sembabule, and Gomba say milk prices started dropping at the beginning of October when the rainy season set in, which has favoured the growth of green pastures in the production areas.

Currently, the farm gate price per litre of milk is trading at between Shs200 and Shs600.
Surprisingly, the price of milk has remained the same in receiving towns.

For instance, a litre of unprocessed milk in towns goes for between Shs1,200 and Shs1,400. A litre of processed milk is going for either Shs3,500 or Shs4,000, depending on the brand.

Farmers say the falling milk prices have constrained the livelihood of the vast dependants on dairy sub-sector.
Mr Robert Kanyete, the chairperson of Rakai District Livestock Farmers’ Association, wonders whether milk prices equally dropped in urban areas because individual milk dealers are taking their milk at giveaway prices.

“Most of us are stuck with milk and we end up giving it to residents for free because milk traders are buying it cheaply,” he says.

He says livestock products such milk and butter are their primary source of livelihood and a fall in their prices directly affects them.
Mr John Mutsibe, the chairperson of Lyantonde Dairy Farmers Association, says he has lost more than Shs3 million so far. “When the price of milk dropped from Shs1,200 per litre in early October, our incomes also dropped, as an individual I have lost over Shs3m,” he says.

Mr Mutsibe appeals to government to give them incentives so that they can add value to milk and other dairy products, and be able to attract better prices.

Mr Enock Mutesweka, the vice chairperson of Gomba Dairy Cooperative Society, says: “The rate at which milk prices are falling is shocking, you can imagine a litre costing Shs200 from Shs1000 two months ago. As farmers we have nothing to do but sell it.”
Mr Moses Ninsiima, the chairperson of Sembabule Cattle Keepers’ Association, says milk prices have dropped to the extent that some dairy farmers have resorted to consuming it and giving the rest to the public.

“One can’t consume more than 200 litres of milk so instead of selling it cheaply they give it away for free,” he says.

Mr Ninsiima says some middlemen he has talked to claim that there is a lot of milk coming from other districts such as Kiruhura, Mbarara and Lyantonde which flood the major market of Masaka and other urban areas which is causing a fall in prices.

“We have tried our level best to stabilise prices in vain because it is the middlemen who set the prices, we strongly call upon government to intervene,” he says.

Mr Edward Akandwanaho, a milk dealer in Masaka Town, says a litre of unprocessed milk is selling at Shs2,000.
“The middlemen who sell milk to us from villages are the ones cheating the farmers, they are benefiting because they have maintained the previous price, for us we just hear about the fall in prices,” he reveals.

Dr Jolly Zalibwende, the commissioner dairy products in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, says milk prices usually drop at the start of a rainy season but later stabilise.

“Farmers should not have sleepless night over falling milk prices during this rainy season, actually it happens due to increased milk production, but after one month, the prices will steadily improve as government also seeks better markets abroad,” she says.

Statistics
Statistics. Statistics from the Dairy Development Authority (DDA) annual milk output stood at 2.2 billion litres by October 2018 compared to 1.8 billion litres for the whole of 2012.

For example in Lyantonde, dairy farmers through Kabula Farmer’s Cooperative Society, the biggest cooperative society in the area, collect more than 50,000 litres of milk during dry spells and more than 70,000litres during rainy season -making it the leading dairy cooperative society in the district with 600 dairy farmers .

In 2017, per capita milk consumption reached 62 litres with 80 per cent being sold to the market while the rest was consumed by the farming households.

DDA says by June 2019, annual milk production had topped 2.4 billion litres, but notably export earnings brought in $100 million (about Shs369b). This figure is expected to rise to $500 million (about Shs1.8trillion) in future if the push for greater consolidation in the industry is achieved to better sort out the remaining bottlenecks.

According to the Agriculture Sector Strategic Plan 2015/16 - 2019/20, which set production targets for priority and strategic agricultural commodities, Uganda has a target to produce 3.3b litres of milk in 2020.
This means the country has two months if Uganda is to hit its 2020 target.

Compiled by Cleophas Tukamarwa, Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa
&Wilson Kutamba

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