By Prossy Nandudu
Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze has advised dairy farmers to diversify and include coffee farming in their livestock enterprises.
According to Tumwebaze, most dairy farmers have up to 200 acres as grazing land for cattle, however, in times of glut, they end up selling milk for as low as sh400 a litre.
Compared to coffee, Tumwebaze said that coffee continues to attract demand both within the country and the international market.
He said most Ugandans don’t consume the milk, which would have provided the market.
“If you have 200 acres for livestock, and depending on milk sales, take off 30 acres and plant some coffee so that when milk prices frustrate you, there is a fallback position,” Tumwebaze said.
He added, “If you have just five acres of coffee, you will get enough money to meet all your farm needs. Dairy people are making losses, the market in Kenya is not sustainable, as we look for markets elsewhere, let’s add coffee onto our dairy.”
Currently, each person in Uganda consumes 62 litres of milk annually which is below the 200 litres per person per year, as recommended by the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, according to Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), domestic coffee consumption is bound to increase to 325,000 bags in the year 2023/2024 from 300,000 in the previous year due to the spread of coffee cafes in Kampala and other urban areas.
He made the remarks on the sideline of a handover ceremony of primary coffee processing machines to commercial farmers, cooperatives and other coffee farming groups, recently.
The machines include coffee pulpers and wet mill processors, which the executive director of UCDA, Dr Emmanuel Iyamulemye said are aimed at improving quality at the farm level.
