June 5, 2023

 

FAO partners with Ugandan Dairy Development Authority to drive milk exports

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has partnered with the Ugandan Dairy Development Authority (DDA) to bolster the export of Ugandan milk and other dairy products, NewVision reported.

 

This partnership aims to assess new markets as part of Uganda's ongoing efforts to strengthen its dairy sector, and will be guided by an export competitiveness study, which will analyse trade flows in the dairy sector, identify dairy products with export potential, and evaluate Uganda's comparative advantage compared to its competitors.

 

Under the leadership of the FAO Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) program, FAO AgrInvest, and the International Growth Centre (IGC) in Uganda, in collaboration with DDA, the initiative will also identify dynamic export markets and recommend policy interventions to position Uganda as a competitive milk and dairy supplier.

 

Marco V Sanchez, deputy director of Agrifood Economics at FAO, said that the significance of understanding the competitiveness of Ugandan milk in international markets is a crucial step in boosting dairy exports.

 

Sanchez also said that the Dairy Policy Action Plan and investments in transforming the dairy sector is important for enhanced production and nutrition.

 

Samson Mpiira Akankiza, executive director of the Dairy Development Authority, expressed his focus on increasing domestic milk consumption through the School Milk Program and expanding the export market portfolio to generate more foreign exchange for farmers.

 

Akankiza welcomed the timely dairy export competitiveness study, which aligns with the DDA's efforts to explore additional export markets for milk.

 

In recent years, raw milk production in Uganda has risen significantly from 1.9 billion liters in 2014 to 3.2 billion litres in 2022. While exports have been increasing, Uganda remains reliant on demand from the key East African market, particularly Kenya.

 

FAO representative in Uganda, Antonio Querido, expressed pride in announcing the collaboration with DDA to enhance the export of Ugandan milk and dairy products. Querido said that this partnership will contribute to ongoing endeavours to strengthen Uganda's dairy sector.

 

-      NewVision