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Farmers decry fluctuating milk prices
A man (not in picture) pours milk in a milk-can in Uganda. PHOTO/FILE
Livestock farmers in Sembabule District have asked the government to address the fluctuating prices of raw milk.
Through their umbrella body, Sembabule District Dairy Farmers Union (SDDFU), the farmers said the farm gate price per litre of milk has dropped to between Shs200 and Shs400 from Shs600 three months ago.
A litre of processed milk in supermarkets is around Shs4,000.
“We are currently spending a lot of money on looking after the dairy cows, buying acaricides and paying workers, but we get little money when we sell our milk and ask the government to swiftly address this,” Mr Richard Ambamu, the chairperson of SDDFU, said during the belated National June Dairy Month celebrations in Sembabule Town at the weekend.
The world celebrates the Annual Dairy Day every June 1. This year’s theme is “Sustainable dairy; good for the planet, good for you”.
Mr Ambamu also decried the influx of fake drugs and lack of milk coolers.
Sembabule belongs to the central region milk shed which contributes 24 percent to the total dairy production in the country. According to Dairy Development Authority), Uganda’s annual milk output currently stands at 3.4 billion litres up from 2.81 billion litres in 2021.
Mr Fred Bwino Kyakulaga, the state minister for Agriculture, who was the chief guest, said: “Our call to both local and international investors is that they should invest more into adding value to our milk into products like powdered milk, yogurt, butter, and cheese, among others. This will be a lasting solution to the milk surplus that usually leads to price fluctuation.”
