President Museveni has said Algeria will buy powdered milk from Uganda worth 150 million US Dollars.
The President made the remarks Thursday while addressing Parliament at Kololo ceremonial grounds in Kampala.
“We cannot fail to export our milk,” he stated, adding “If we are having trouble with our neighbours in terms of trade, we can still export it to other countries like Algeria, Nigeria and even those in the Middle East.”
The President recently visited Algeria where he discussed the matter with Algeria’s leader Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
The two leaders addressed a business forum in Algiers during which several MoUs were signed. Milk was one of them.
“In Algeria, we have reliable partners. We are looking at powdered milk which is already coming here, coffee, tea and then products from Algeria of petroleum and petrochemicals,” the President told the business forum.
Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry Fisheries, was quoted saying he hoped the deal to export milk to the North African country will be concluded.
Following his meeting with Algerian Ambassador in Kampala, Cherif Qualid in November last year, President Museveni said the country had shown interest in buying Ugandan milk worth 500 million dollars (1.85 trillion Shillings).
While presiding over International Women’s Day Celebrations, President Museveni said the amount of milk produced in Uganda has increased from 200 million litres per year to 7.2 billion litres per year.
“It is possible to get out of poverty. Our population will soon reach 50 million people. Each person to remain healthy with all his teeth like me at 78 years needs to drink 210 litres of milk per year. Therefore, the country will need more milk for 50 million people,” he pointed out.
According to him, the Ankole/Sanga cow is a superior breed because of its qualities and beef.
“Its milk has got more cream. However, in the past, we had not marketed those qualities. The Ankole cow still depends on the internal market of Kampala and a bit of the regional market for beef.”
President Museveni advised dairy farmers in Uganda’s cattle corridor to carry out a clear and well-researched analysis of the prices of milk on the international market to arrive at a collective and informed decision on the price of milk in the country.