BUBUSI Co-operative in Uganda Installs a Feedmill

The new feed mill at BUBUSI: Farmers will largely benefi t from varying quantities of dairy meals at affordable prices, especially during the dry season. Photo EADD/Brian Kawuma

Bubusi Dairy Cooperative which is a traditional market hub (TM) and Namayumba Integrated Farmers’ Association (NIFA) have formed a joint venture called the Busiro Bulemezi and Singo Farmers’ Association  (BUSIFA) to set up and operate a new feed enterprise.  The venture is jointly facilitated by NAADS (National Agriculture Advisory Services) and EADD.

The feed mill has finally been installed and will be officially commissioned very soon. Already the dairy ration recipes which are based on locally available crop residues have been developed and milling/mixing and sales have already commenced. The products are trading at a competitively priced dairy ration comprising of 17% protein.

The feed mill has a production capacity of ten (10) tonnes per day and in its initial stages will produce dairy meal in varying quantities that will be fairly priced so that all farmers can afford. The feed mill is expected to expand its production in the future to produce feeds for all kinds of livestock and domestic birds.

This new venture brings a lot of hopes and relief to the farmers who in the past have had to travel over 30 kilometers to the urban centers to procure a not-so-cheap “ration” of dairy meal.

“We are full of joy and optimism for our new feed mill business, now our farmers can afford alternative and affordable source of feed supplements to their dairy cows. This will really boost our milk business, especially in the dry seasons,” says Gideon Tamale, the manager of the new feed mill.

Brian Dugdill, EADD’s chief advisor visited the new feed mill and appreciated the work of the EADD team together with its partners in the project and farmers of BUBUSI.  “We look forward to fair priced, quality dairy meal produced by the mill, purchased by the first BUBUSI co-operative shareholder, under the check-off credit system and fed to the first dairy cow!” He says.

In its advisory role, EADD helped the co-operative develop a business plan and linked the farmers to a supplier of equipment which offered the co-operative a flexible payment terms. EADD also guided the co-operative leadership in recruiting qualified staff for the feed mill in addition to training them in business management.

This new business venture will boost milk yields for the farmers as a result of improved nutrition and consequently will impact positively on their milk incomes. The shareholders of the co-operative are also expecting to earn greater dividends from the profits made by this mill.