Milk is becoming harder to find in Kigali as a prolonged dry spell has left dairy farmers struggling to secure enough fodder and water, cutting production and disrupting supplies to consumers. This week, The New Times visited various dairy shops in areas including Gishushu, Nyarutarama and Gisimenti and found milk in stock at only one. Four shops visited in Gishushu, two in Nyarutarama and three in Gisimenti were largely empty, with sellers saying they had struggled to get supplies for weeks. One seller at a supply point belonging to Inyange Industries around Gishushu said she had experienced supply struggles for over a week. She explained that the shortage had persisted through most of August, although the price at her shop remained at about Rwf900 per litre. “Milk, generally, has disappeared everywhere,” she said. In Gisimenti, another seller said she had no milk in stock but was expecting a vehicle to deliver some that day. Once the milk arrives, she said, it can sell out within a few minutes. In a statement issued this week, Inyange Industries, the largest company producing milk products, noted that the prolonged dry season has drastically affected milk production volumes. The company, however, said its prices to distributors had not changed since March 2026, even as milk supplies have come under pressure. Inyange said 500ml whole milk costs Rwf8,000 per carton for distributors and Rwf8,500 at milk zones, while pasteurised whole milk at milk zones costs Rwf800 per litre. The company said any future price change would be announced publicly and in advance through its official channels. The company hoped milk production would soon normalise. But the shortage starts further up the supply chain, where farmers are struggling to keep cattle fed and watered. In Nyagatare District, farmer Emmanuel Nkubito keeps 30 cows and also grows fodder for sale. But demand from other farmers has risen beyond what he can supply. “Farmers are asking me for fodder, but I also have to feed my own cattle. I do not have enough capacity to produce the amount they need,” he said. He pointed out that lack of equipment was also causing some harvested fodder to be lost. “I harvest the fodder and wait for a baling machine to arrive, but sometimes the sun dries the fodder before the machine comes, and farmers do not get it on time,” he said. Nkubito wants easier access to finance and equipment so he can expand fodder production and help meet the growing demand. “We are asking for easier access to loans so that we can expand production and make livestock fodder more readily available to farmers,” he said. The financing challenge comes as new funding is being mobilised for farmers’ organisations. During the Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, IFAD signed an agreement with Bank of Kigali involving a $21 million financing package aimed at improving access to finance for farmers’ organisations. The package includes $9 million from IFAD and $9 million from the bank’s balance sheet, alongside technical assistance and a guarantee mechanism. According to farmer Gahiga Gashumba, higher temperatures had made it harder to maintain livestock feed and water supplies. Farmers are now spending more to keep their cattle fed and watered. “People are buying water and food now. The food is costly. The food for 30 cows in a week is costing Rwf230,000,” Gashumba said. “When you count that plus the cost of water, it becomes a big problem.” He said dams that farmers relied on for livestock water had also dried up. The effect on milk production has been severe. Gashumba said the milk he used to supply to Inyange has fallen from about 100 litres a day to less than 20 litres. In Gicumbi District, farmer Agnes Mukangiruwonsanga said inadequate feeding had similarly reduced milk yields. “There is nothing you can get from the cows which you didn’t feed. A cow which used to produce 10 litres is producing two litres,” she said. The government says improving water and feed access is central to protecting milk production as weather conditions become less predictable. State Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture Solange Uwituze said the government is working on community water infrastructure to bring water closer to livestock farmers. “If we want to increase milk production, we need to invest in water access by drilling boreholes. We are now aiming at developing boreholes that serve entire communities so that farmers and livestock keepers can access water closer to their farms,” Uwituze said. The government is also encouraging farmers to tell feed-processing companies in advance what they need so that supplies can be prepared before shortages become severe. “We also need to help them access animal feeds at affordable prices. What we are doing is encouraging farmers to tell feed-processing companies in advance what types of feeds they need, so that the companies can prepare and supply them on time,” Uwituze said. Alongside feed and water, Rwanda is also trying to increase milk production by improving cattle breeds. Uwituze said the country currently has 30 bulls in its breeding programme and has renewed its breeding stock with dairy breeds including Jersey and Friesian. More milk collection capacity planned Rwanda is also expanding infrastructure to ensure that milk produced by farmers can be collected, cooled and moved to consumers. Plans are in place to construct 47 new milk collection centres and renovate 45 existing ones. The expansion is expected to increase national milk-cooling capacity from 483,000 litres to 1.32 million litres a day. The measures come as Rwanda seeks to raise milk production from about 3.2 million litres a day to 6.8 million litres by 2029. Milk consumption is also projected to rise from 82 litres per person in 2025 to 165 litres by 2029.
