MILK CRISIS IN KABALE: PRICES DOUBLE

BY VANANSIO KAKOGOSO
IN KABALE—
Kabale district has been hit by milk crisis forcing Dairy farmers to
hike milk prices leaving consumers with tough choices to make. A
liter of milk at farm gate prices has doubled from 600 shillings in
June to 1200 shillings.

The sales Manager Kabale Tukore Dairy Alex Arinaitwe says that says
milk prices were bound to shoot up because of supply constraints. She
says hath milk production has seriously dropped due to the prolonged
dry spell that has hit the cattle corridor. He says that they sell a
liter at 1200shillings.

Mugisha Innocent a farmer from Kitumba sub county Kabale district
says that the scarcity of milk is due to prolonged drought that hit
the district. He says that the cows now feed on dry grass for those
who stored it which does not help to produce more milk. He says that
her supplies have decreased drastically leaving him in a loss because
he no longer affords payments of workers, drugs and others.

George Kwarigaba the accountant Kigezi Dairy Co-operative Society
however blames the scarcity of milk in the district to tea growing. He
says that most of the leading producers of milk have been demolished
leaving a vacuum in supply.
He also says that many of his customers spend a day waiting for milk,
others have stopped buying milk because of the high price, while
others have cut down on the liters they have been buying. He says that
he sales a liter at 1100shillings.

Shallon Musimenta from Bugongi, a milk consumer says that due to the
price hike she has resorted to buying millet flour for her family. She
says a kilo of millet floor, which costs 2400 shillings, takes them
four days unlike two liters of milk that are consumed once.