Vibrant Open Dairy Day in Rushere, Uganda
On Saturday the 2nd of April a dairy open day was organized by a consortium of Dutch dairy companies, gathered in an “Impact Cluster Dairy Uganda” (Bles Dairies, Uniform Agri, Koudijs, Ante and Aeres).
Mutanoga Demonstration Farm
The event was held at Mutanoga Farm, one of the five Ugandan demonstration farms that are partners in this project. Mutanoga Farm is business partner of Ante and equipped with dairy machinery for cooling, processing and bottling which was shown during the farm tour in the afternoon.
Agricultural Counselor Frank Buizer spoke about the collaboration between The Netherlands and Uganda in Dairy. A good exmple of this is the Dairy Impact Cluster, where Dutch and Ugandan companies work together.
SNV, who are running an extensive capacity building program in dairy in Uganda, were also present to explain about their services (of which an online tool with practical blending learning modules is quite impressive).
Workshops, demonstrations and learning from each other
At this Open Day over 200 Ugandan farmers attended the workshops about milk processing for value addition, quality based milk payment systems and how to treat and monitor your cows in a good way.
The Dutch companies had stands in which they showed their equipment, technology and experience so it was also a mini-Expo in which a lot of interaction about business opportunities and cooperation took place.
Attendence of Hon. Minister Frank Tumwebaze
The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Hon. Minister Frank Tumwebaze was present and took a lot of time to have discussions with the participants. He also expressed his appraisal for the Dutch involvement in the dairy sector and requested for further upscaling of the Dutch programs and activities.
All in all a good day in which the dairy cooperation between Uganda and The Netherlands was shown and reinforced.