Gov’t urged to educate dairy farmers to sustain quality

10 April 2025, 11:32 am

By Ronald Ssemagonja

Following the merger of government agencies, Kwikiza Emmanuel, the Director of Besiga Mukama Dairy Farm in Kitintale, Kampala district, has spoken out about the challenges faced by businesspeople in the milk sector since the Dairy Development Authority (DDA) was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

“Since the government merged DDA with the Ministry of Agriculture, we’ve been facing a lot of challenges. From January to March this year, milk prices were high, ranging between Uganda Shillings 1,600 and 1,700 per litre. But recently, as we speak, prices have dropped to between Uganda Shillings 1,000 and 1,100 in some areas like Nakaseke and Nakasongola,” he said.

Kwikiza explained that the challenges are caused by various factors, such as a lack of grazing grass for the cows. “Since our farming is highly dependent on nature, we benefit a lot when it rains. But when the rains stop, we are affected because most of the grass dries up. Another issue is that some farmers have not yet embraced zero grazing or locational grazing methods, which would help them feed their cattle even during dry spells,” he said.

He added that many people in the milk business do not pay attention to standards. “They just do what they feel like, meaning the government needs to conduct thorough research on any agency before it is either merged or disbanded.”

“Our milk is of high standard because we were trained in Entebbe during the DDA era. We were taught various aspects like maintaining quality, marketing milk, keeping proper records, and many other things. After that education, we learned what shouldn’t be done in this business, and that knowledge has helped us succeed,” he explained.

When asked why some other people in the same business do the opposite, Kwikiza said that many of them simply don’t know what to do. “That’s why some milk ends up stinking — it’s due to poor hygiene and other related factors. If the government helps educate these people, it would benefit everyone in the business and, most importantly, our customers, who would get quality milk.”

He concluded by advising people to consume at least half a litre of milk every day. “For those interested in getting quality milk, they should visit us — we also offer deliveries,” he said.