Milk prices soar as drought hits Ntoroko
Locals fetch water from a dry well in Kasungu Village, Butungama Sub-county in Ntoroko District on Sunday. Cattle keepers say the area has been hit by a prolonged drought, leading to water scarcity. PHOTO | ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- Cattle deaths. By January, a total of 996 heads of cattle were reported to have died due to effects of drought in Ntoroko.
A prolonged drought that has hit Ntoroko District since July last year has resulted in reduction in milk production, forcing prices to triple.
A litre of milk now costs Shs3,000, up from Shs1,000 in October last year.
The most affected cattle keepers are in the sub-counties of greater Rwebisengo, Butungama, Bweramule, Karugutu and Kibuuku.
Cattle keepers say the lack of water and pasture has also led to high death rates of livestock, hence impacting negatively on their household incomes. Many pastures and wells have dried up.
Mr Charles Kagwa, a cattle keeper in Makondo-Kibira Village, says as a result of the prolonged drought, he stopped milking his cows in October.
“I had more than 15 cows and decided to stop milking them because they were about to die. Selling milk would complement my daily income, enough to cater for my family needs. We are now crippled financially,” Mr Kaggwa says.
He explains that he used to sell about 30 litres a day, with each litre going for Shs1,000, which would fetch him Shs30,000.
Due to scarcity, locals now buy milk from neighbouring DR Congo or Fort Portal City. “In my village alone, we have lost more than 300 cows since July last year,” he explains.
His story highlights the plight of desperate cattle keepers in the district, some of whom have failed to meet home obligations, including paying school fees.
The district livestock census report for February 2022 indicates that of the 230,671 heads of cattle in the area, 99 percent are of beef type indigenous.
The same report indicates that as a result of drought, the milk production has dropped by 69 percent from 10,630 litres to 3,295 litres per day. The sale of milk also declined by 64.5 percent from 3,713 litres a day to 1,318 litres.
The milk daily consumption has reduced because of the scarcity of milk. Before May last year, the milk consumption per day was 7,102 litres and by January this year, it had reduced to1,977 litres per day.
Also by January, a total of 996 heads of cattle were reported to have died due to effects of drought in Ntoroko, and farmers are worried that the numbers would triple if drought persists. Mr Tadeo Asiimwe Barwogeza, the district veterinary officer, says if the drought persists, they will lose more cattle because the cattle are stressed and have lost weight.
“The only option the farmers have remained with is to embrace the solar powered irrigation scheme to pump water for their animals and irrigate their garden if they are to survive this dry spell,” he advises.
Pumping water
Mr Joshua Kabwemi, who uses a generator to pump water to his farm, says the undertaking is expensive and he requires more than 20 litres of fuel to irrigate the whole farm.
Other farmers who have tried to dig valley dams in low land areas of Rwebisengo, Butungama, Kibuuku and Bweramule say they have dried up. These have to travel a distance of more than 25 kilometres to access water from River Semliki.
Mr William Kasoro, the district chairperson, says they have been requesting the government through the Office of Prime Minister to address the challenges of drought in vain.
“The government is aware that Ntoroko is prone to disasters, both floods and drought. We have been requesting the office of Prime Minister to include us as the beneficiaries of DRDIP [Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project] such that we get funds to help our people who have been affected by drought and floods,” he says.
DRDIP is a World Bank-funded five-year project implemented under the Office of the Prime Minister. The project provides development and direct income support to the poor and vulnerable people within refugee hosting districts in Uganda.
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