A consumer shops for Brookside dairy milk products in a supermarket in Nairobi, Kenya. PHOTO | SIMON MAINA | AFP

The dairy sector in Uganda is laying off workers and counting losses after an export ban imposed by neighboring Kenya, according to The East African.

In March 2023, Nairobi reinstated its 2021 ban on Ugandan milk products, sparking anger from Ugandan farmers and government officials.

The Kenya Dairy Board, in a communique sent out to all milk importers, said it was suspending all importation of powdered milk.

Meanwhile, Brookside Diary Uganda, on June 28, 2023, sent home at least 200 workers in a bid to cut production by 75 percent as it has been unable to export milk produced since the latest ban was imposed, according to The East African.

The trade row, reportedly caused by a supremacy battle between Kenya’s current administration and Kenyatta’s family which own Brookside diary, is said to have left Uganda dairy farmers counting losses.

Kenya, the largest export market of Uganda, has now declined 116 exports permit applications, forcing Uganda to look for markets elsewhere in the region and across the continent.

“We have applied for 116 export application permits since March 2023, but they have not been issued,” Benson Mwuangi, Brookside Uganda general manager told The East African.