By George Bita
The dairy farmers of Buyende district have opted to add value to their milk to boost profits from the enterprise.
The 220 farmers organised under Buyende Dairy Farmers’ Cooperative Society come from the five sub-counties of Nkondo, Kidera, Buyende, Bugaya and Buyende town council.
According to Bernard Byeka, the Coop manager, the milk daily supply surpasses the market requirements hence the need to add value to some of it.
“We are grateful to the government that provided us with a milk cooler and standby generator in 2016. This ensures our milk stays fresh for long to enable us to make yoghurt out of it,” Byeka told New Vision on Wednesday.
He revealed that an estimated 1, 000 litres are brought in during the rainy season while the quantity drops to about 7, 000 litres during the dry spells when cattle feeding is limited.
Julius Kafeero, the in-charge of the Yoghurt manufacturing department explained that each 500g sachet goes for sh2, 000 which is much more profitable compared to the milk.
“Daily, 26 vendors move around Buyende market selling the milk at about sh1, 200 per litre. However, just 500g of yogurt costs twice as much, showing the importance of value addition,” Kafeero emphasised.
The yoghurt is packed in 250g as well as 500g plastic packets costing sh1, 000 and sh2, 000 respectively.
He added that yoghurt sustains freshness for long and can stay on market shelves for over a month, yet ordinary milk would have gotten spoilt within a similar period.
Fazira Namwase, a farmer from Nkondo village said she used to sell milk in the rural neighbourhood at sh500 per litre, but nowadays prefers the Coop which offers a higher price.
“Things even get better by making yoghurt out of it which fetches more cash. We are grateful to the government for enabling us to earn much more from our cow products,” Namwase said.
Byeka lamented that despite the additional income from value addition, they still incur losses from the bad rural network that affects transport.
“At times, the poor road infrastructure delays the milk supply which affects production. There have been cases of motorcycle accidents spilling our milk along the way which leads to losses to farmers,” he said.
Kafeero decried the occasional low power supply in the local government yet the cooler requires 3KV power supply to operate smoothly.
“This state of affairs at times makes us rely so much on the generator that needs fuel to run. Such a scenario means losses,” he said.
Dr. George Mangeni, the Buyende district veterinary officer hailed the farmers for adding value to their farm produce, saying it was one sure way of profiting more from their sweat.
