Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, on Wednesday, played host to former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Both leaders talked about collaboration between both countries on exportation and importation of milk and coffee.
The two leaders toured Pearl Dairy Farms Limited in Mbarara City and met with farmers from Kiruhura and Kazo districts.
Obasanjo expressed his amazement at Uganda’s production capacity of 5.7 billion liters of milk annually, stating that Nigeria is keen on purchasing processed milk and coffee from Uganda.
He criticized the current situation, where Nigeria imports milk from Europe despite Uganda’s surplus.
Sabi Abdullahi, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, recently highlighted that the country spends $1.5 billion yearly on dairy imports due to a significant production deficit.
He also stressed the impact of this shortage on nutrition, with two million Nigerian children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
In 2023, Ugandan manufacturers called for retaliatory measures against Kenya, which had banned Ugandan powdered milk to protect local producers, negatively affecting Uganda’s export market.
Museveni expressed gratitude to Obasanjo for his willingness to foster a partnership and assured him of Uganda’s ability to meet both local and international demand for milk.
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