Farmers in Western Uganda, are optimistic of an increase in the diary outputs and income following the launch of a new project that looks at providing cheap capital, Improved pasture, knowledge, among others.
“With these cows, My income has been constant they produce milk same amount for years, 20 liters constant, but now I think with this improvement of pastures, cheap capital, I am targeting to produce in a year at least over 100 liters of milk,” Jane Tayebwa, a Dairy Farmer says.
The average milk production of cattle in Uganda is about 5-6 liters per day, whereas cows in more advanced nations like New Zealand and the Netherlands can produce 20 liters or more.
The lost opportunity in Uganda’s dairy industry is concerning since farmers lose up to 15,000 Ugandan shillings per cow per day. Improved yields would bring prosperity to farming families, create more interest in farming for future generations and triple their income.
The initiative, Project Prosperity is aimed at mitigating gaps and enhance profitability for smallholder farmers, starting with the dairy industry.
According to Lato, the implementers, the project can be a game-changer not only for dairy farmers in Uganda and Kenya but for other farmers throughout Africa.
Amit Sagar, the CEO of Pearl Diary Farms, says Markets and the the population are growing, which calls for an increase in production. He says the population is doubling every 15 to 20 years, where milk consumption has proportionally increased with a huge demand.
“Today, Uganda is the largest exporter of milk in the continent, thanks to the farmers in Uganda and also the efforts we have made in taking Ugandan milk to the region.
And therefore, the markets are growing and we need to increase capacity,” he says.
Adding,” that’s why we’re also building a new factory, to increase the capacity. So, we will now double our capacity in the next one year so that we can cater to this growing demand, when we started the factory, the average price of milk was around 400 shillings a litre, the average price of milk for the past three years has been over 1,100 shillings a litre. The farmer today in Uganda gets paid three times what he used to get paid before.”
He explained that they cannot keep increasing the price of milk as this will make it uncompetitive during exportation.
Akash Kumar, a co-founder at Pearl Diary Farms, says the gap between Uganda milk producers and international producers, is very obvious, and huge. “And when there is a gap, we as processors feel it is our responsibility to address it. So that’s how Project Prosperity will operate. to bring international expertise and make a pool of international expertise for people, like IFFC, for example, or the worldwide MasterCard Foundation.”
Adding, “15 will become 20. So, we develop the farmer in steps and stages, but our ultimate goal is to make him prosper and increase his household income. You know, wealth brings prosperity to his household. And that is why we call it “Project Prosperity.”
Kabandize Laban, a Dairy Farmer, says “My income will improve, because the milk liters have also increased this is due to the improved pastures.”
He said farmers need affordable capital, sensitization, In terms of priority, investment, technical expertise among others, which will be provided in the project.
Kumar noted that Project Prosperity is a gateway to deliver this connection and plans to launch an Agri-fintech platform to digitize the initiative.
The platform will help identify the neediest farmers and connect them with willing institutions ready to help.
The project team has already collected data for 1,000 dairy farmers in Uganda and is delivering a pilot program to finalize the learnings about basic challenges and hidden opportunities before launching the digital application.
