Milk has the potential to become Uganda's biggest revenue generator

Cow Milk

Dairy

Uganda

Published May 26, 2023

Tridge summary

Pearl Dairy Farm, maker of Lato Milk, said that stakeholders in the milk value chain must invest properly to realize the capacity of the dairy sector, which has the potential to become Uganda's main value-added revenue generator. Speaking at the launch of Project Prosperity, which aims to triple production and income in the city of Mbarara, Amit Sagar, CEO of Pearl Dairy, said the missed opportunity in Uganda's dairy sector is worrying as smallholder farmers lose up to $4 per cow per day due to low milk production. This, he said, hampers the country's ability to explore export markets, many of which lack adequate environments to produce natural and organic milk. Therefore, said Sagar, to explore the country's potential it is necessary to invest in prospects that guarantee the quality of production, quantity and supply of milk throughout the year.

Original content

This, he said, will involve providing inputs, which, among others, include a variety of species, cow feed, and creating feed infrastructure for cattle on both a large and small scale. The average milk production of a cow in Uganda is five liters per day, which is much lower compared to countries like the Netherlands and New Zealand where a cow produces up to 20 liters or more per day. Low production, experts say, is mainly due to poor diet and poor knowledge. In December 2021, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Uganda produced 2.81 billion liters of milk, of which only 800 million liters were consumed in the country. The Dairy Development Authority (DDA) indicates that per capita milk consumption in Uganda is just 62 litres, far below the 200 liters recommended by the World Food Programme. The above data means that Uganda, even when domestic consumption is improved, has over two billion liters of milk available for export annually. Sagar said that while Uganda is one of ...

Source: Milkpoint