The African Dairy Conference slated to commence on Tuesday 12, 2023 will discuss and put up policy measures aimed at regulating the industry so as to tackle the challenges that negatively affecting the business in the region. The participants whom some have already arrived come from member State that make up the Eastern and Southern Africa Dairy Association (ESADA).
While addressing a press conference at Hotel Africana- Kampala, Dr.Samson Akankiza Mpiira, Dairy Development Authority (DDA) Ag. Executive director, said that the primary objectives of the conference is to highlight opportunities for dairy sector investment in Africa, provide a platform for the African and global dairy community to discuss and recommend solutions to policy, regulatory and industry bottlenecks that impact trade in dairy products.
The African diary practitioners and suppliers will be introduced to emerging new technologies and ideas for better efficiency and quality production of Dairy products that will be able to compete on the world markets and fetch higher incomes for the respective countries.
“The 16Th Conference which is planned to also host exhibiters, aims at focusing on the multiple challenges facing the African dairy industry with the ultimate objective of improving and putting the industry at the level we want it to be.” Dr. Akankiza said.
He also highlighted the benefits of Uganda hosting the conference which include; creation of trade opportunities for Ugandan dairy products regionally and globally, technology and knowledge sharing among many others.
“This Conference will increase Uganda dairy sector’s intra-regional trade in addition to enabling Uganda dairy sector investors to network with other dairy industry stakeholders to nurture new business partnerships,” he added.
Ngaruiya Peter, the ESADA executive director, said the conference is very important in the Eastern Africa bloc where over 80 percent of milk is produced by smallholder farmers and plays an important role in the lives of its inhabitants.
“From the small scale farmers to the large milk processors, there are millions of businesses and households involved. In general, the dairy sector is one of the critical sectors in the region with high potential for improving food security and welfare of its people, “He said.
Khadija Nakakande, the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) Public Relations Officer, pointed out that the Government injected UGX 7 Billion to support dairy farmers across the country to increase milk production and value addition.
“NAADS has been able to supply dairy farmers with milk coolers and sensitize the majority to grow pasture that increases milk production when fed to the Cows, “she said.
She added that NAADS has allocated Friesian Cows to a number of farmers free of charge, with the aim of increasing milk production.
By George Bukenya and Dan Mugula