Kenya has on several occasioned blocked Uganda's milk products from accessing their market.
Government has expressed discontent over continued blockade of Ugandan dairy products by Kenya, despite both countries being part of the East African Community.
Speaking to Nile Post, the State Minister for Agriculture, Bright Rwamirama said Kenya has continued to stop Ugandan products into their market, a situation he said is absurd.
"While we are in the common market of the East African community, Kenya has continued to frustrate trade in the dairy products in protection of their dairy industry which is not competitive,"he said.
The blockage of Uganda's dairy products into Kenya has not only affected the dairy processors but also farmers.
"As Lakeside Dairies we depend on export for UHT milk and our biggest market that we have is Kenya, " noted Sydney Mark Wamala the quality assurance manager Lakeside dairies.
"Now the Kenyan government this time refused to release export permits not only us but also other processors. A farmer deep down in the village makes sure he brings milk here ready for processing but if we can't process all of it because of lack of export permits, it means it's them making a loss" Mark added.
According to Rwamirama, Uganda has got about 168 small, medium and large dairy processing plants which process about 4 million liters of milk on a daily basis.
Uganda's milk consumption per capita is 61 liters contrary to the 200 liters as recommended by the World Health Organization.
This bulk difference calls for value addition leading to export but Kenya one of the biggest markets for Uganda's dairy products continues to slap barriers to protect their own processors.
"Here we have plenty of pasture, feeds for our animals and we produce substantively quite cheaply than Kenya so for some reasons has been staggering supplies in their market" Rwamirama added.
Despite meeting the East Africa community Secretariat and signing trade agreements, Rwamirama says Kenya remains adamant to heed to the agreed terms of trade.
However, Rwamirama noted that they have since met the East Africa Community Secretariat to address this issue.
"We had made tremendous progress in mediation and we even signed an agreement with the EAC Secretariat about the matter and the president himself took it up but to our dismay Kenya is yet to heed to the agreed terms of trade."
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He said, as a way of maneuvering Kenya's protectionism, the government of Uganda is currently exploring other global and sustainable dairy export destinations including West Africa, DRC and many other countries.
"We are looking at West Africa and that's why Uganda is now very active into African trade and COMESA. So we're not sitting down with this continued kind of frustration and misbehavior in the EAC common market. We are looking for global and sustainable lucrative markets say in the middle East and Congo now it joined the community," Rwamirama said.
