Politics of milk in EAC: How trade in dairy sector turned sour

President Yoweri Museveni meets with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto at his Kisozi farm in Uganda on February 26, 2024. 

Photo credit: PPU

A recent East African Business Council meeting in Kigali heard how Tanzania was making the sale of milk from Rwanda near futile by introducing levies that made the trade unprofitable, against the tenets of the East African Community (EAC) Common Market.

Rwandan traders claimed that Tanzania was charging $1 for each litre of milk, raising the cost and discouraging imports.