Drought has hit Kasese District resulting in a reduction in milk production, forcing prices to to double.
A litre of milk now costs between 2,500 to 3,000 Shillings up from 2,000 Shillings a week ago. The pastoralists in the area say the lack of water and pasture has affected the production level.
Moses Atwiine, who operates a mini dairy outlet along the Kasese-Bwera Taxi stage says the quantity of milk supplied by farmers has reduced drastically in the last two weeks due to a lack of good pasture.
He adds that he was getting more than 100 litres daily but this has reduced to 60 litres leaving some of his daily customers disappointed.
“It’s dry as you can see, the production of our cows largely relies on the natural weather, so we expect the production to go down further until the wet season begins,” he noted.
Brian Ampiire, operating a diary outlet along Kogere Road says he has raised the price of milk to 2,500 shillings per litre.
Some farmers have taken advantage of the low production to increase the prices leaving dairy operators with no option.
“The prices of milk might raise further because farmers are aware that production is low so they tend to add a shilling or two and this will directly affect the final consumer,” Ampiire noted.
Patrick Kayanja, a pastoralist in Hima says his daily milk production has moved from 20 litres to less than 15 litres each morning and attributes this to a lack of pasture and water.
He wants the government to invest in the construction of valley dams in the district.
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