Comesa endorses Uganda milk exports

 

By JOSEPH MITI KAMPALA

UGANDA'S dairy farmers have reason to smile after Uganda's dairy products were cleared to be exported to the Common Market of East and Southern Africa (Comesa).

This follows the presentation of Ugandan milk samples by a team of Uganda Dairy Processors Association (UDPA) at the 3rd African Dairy Conference and Exhibition in Lusaka, Zambia recently.

UDPA Chairman John Anglin told journalists at a press conference at the Dairy Development Authority (DDA) offices on May 25 that accessing Comesa market would boost the country's milk exports as well as attracting more players in the milk industry.

"After testing the samples we exhibited, it was proved that our products are of high quality and can favourably compete with others in the market," Mr Anglin said.
"Our clearance to participate in the Comesa market will increase the country's milk exports because it is a really wide market."

The exhibitors
The companies, which participated, include Paramount Dairies Ltd, Gouda Gold Ltd, Creamland Dairies, GBK Dairy Products Ltd, Sameer Livestock & Agriculture Ltd and Impact Dairy.

Others were Uganda Daily Traders Association (UNDATA) and Uganda Commodity Consumers Union.
DDA Executive Director Nathan Twinamasiko said after the clearance, the sector was aiming to export over 100 million litres of milk by the end of 2008.

"We have capacity to produce more milk than we are producing because now we have no fears in the quality of milk," Dr Twinamasiko said.

However, he said they were still facing several challenges such as packaging and transportation but once solved they would be able gain more leverage on the regional market.

"We are advantaged by the fact that we are surrounded by countries which do not produce too much milk. According to the samples we exhibited, people showed interest in our milk. That was an indicator that we will coup easily," he said.

He stressed that the dairy supervision body would put more emphasis on milk quality to consolidate the market they had acquired.

Commenting on the exhibition, Mr Anglin said the event provided good insights into several innovative processes of dairy production including yoghurt processing and managing dairy cows to achieve longevity and more productivity.

He said the Ugandan team also received wider range of new contracts that offered several deals in equipment, ingredient supplies, packaging and even possibility business partnerships.

 

From Daily Monitor Online