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A mother of twins, Hana Teklehaimanot, is a resident
of Kebele 36 around Ourael Church in Bole District.
Until recently, every morning she had been buying a
litre of milk at four Birr from Berta Cattle Ranch
for her five-month old babies. However, her monthly
budget for the purchase of milk has now shot up
because her supplier has increased the price by
50pc. Of course, she is not happy about this but has
no option but to buy the milk as her babies have not
yet begun taking other kinds of food.
From a combined income of 1,500Br, the family pays
550 Br monthly for house rent. Hanna struggles to
cover her remaining expenses with the balance, which
is being eroded by the increasing prices of almost
all supplies.
“Life has become unbearable,” she says. “I am not
sure how long I am going to continue spending 12 Br
every day on milk only.”
It is not the price alone that bothers her so much.
Often, she cannot even get as much as two litres of
milk if she does not get to her suppliers early
enough because the demand for the product is great.
“That forces me to pay a hard won extra two Birr,”
she bemoans.
Small kiosks and big supermarkets in the metropolis
have been hit by a supply shock of late. Some
grocers even got to the extent of rationing supplies
to two tetra milk packets per shopper.
This unfortunate phenomenon is attributed to a
significant decrease in supply. The cattle rearing
farmers - in both towns and rural areas - blame the
current shortage to the scarcity of fodder and hay
for their cows.
One such supplier, who is definitely feeling the
pinch, is Hailemariam Beyene, a rancher in Gebre
Guracha area of Selale, 170Km north of Addis Abeba
in the Oromia Regional State. A father of six, he
has 25 cattle, 20 of which are hybrid cows that
produce 25 litres of milk each. Hailemariam has been
supplying Shola Milk Enterprise at 3.5 Br per litre.
“My deliveries have not been consistent though in
the past six months,” he told Fortune.
Especially beginning from February this year, the
volume he obtains from his cows has significantly
decreased due to the lack of pastoral lands
following the failure of Belg rains.
The animal feed that the enterprise provides
Haliemariam does not solve the problem. It has,
rather, diminished in quantity and increased in
price. He has therefore had to sell off seven of his
hybrid cows for an amount he considers as well below
their actual worth.
“I sold them for 4,000 Br yet they would go for
7,000 to 10,000 Br in normal circumstances,” he
said.
He is not the only one to express disappointment.
Most farmers in his neighborhood are forced into
selling their cattle before they lose weight and,
therefore, value.
Owners of Berta Cattle ranch also complain about the
short supply.
“To purchase 50qts of animal feed, we waited for 15
days. And we paid 13,499 Br,” says one of the
owners. “It wouldn’t surprise me if the price of
milk hit an all time high.”
The milk refrigeration station at Shola Milk
Enterprise in Selale gives fodder to 823 farmers,
who, in turn, supply it with their milk production.
Six months ago, a quintal of first grade fodder sold
for 156 Br. However, currently second grade fodder
goes for as much as 320 Br. This has had a boomerang
effect on the farmers who have drastically slashed
the amount of milk they now supply.
“From the 5000-7000lts daily supply of milk six
months ago, we now get as little as 1500 lts,” said
Tamru Tolcha, head of the station.
The price of fodder rose following dwindling
supplies from grain milling factories.
KOJJ, a flour factory sells Frushika, an animal
feed, for 276-300 Br. The price was 100-110 Br just
a few months ago. Flour factories blame this
escalation in price on the soaring wheat prices and
scarcity of the grain.
“It is because the supply of wheat has decreased
that fodder has become expensive,” Teshome Kassa,
shareholder and general manager of commercial
department of KOJJ, told Fortune.
There has been a global rise in the price of wheat,
which locally has peaked to 565 Br.
KOJJ’s has a daily milling capacity of 1,400
quintals of wheat, yet its current output stands at
300 to 400 quintals a day, a more than three fold
decrease. This has been the result not only of
shortages, but also of the present power cuts.
According to Teshome, a mere 25pc of a quintal of
the cereal is used in the making of animal feed. The
inadequate total supply therefore pushes prices to
the roof.
A study conducted by Tefera Abraha, a senior Urban
Agriculture expert, indicated that the aggregate
annual supply of milk in Addis Abeba is 64.5 million
litres per year, while the biological demand of milk
is over five times this amount. The discrepancy
between the demand and the supply is notable in the
city for all milk brands.
Shola, for instance, used to supply 20,000 to
25,000lts of milk three months ago. Its production
capacity was reduced to 15,000 in May.
For 10 days of the month, there is a power blackout,
which forces the factory to minimize production.
“Without power, one cannot refrigerate the milk,”
says Desalegn Tilahun, general manager of Shola.
Shola also gets raw milk supplies from close to
1,000 farmers in northern Shoa and Ada’a Liben Milk
Producers Association. The 10,000lts supply from
Ada’a Liben has now decreased by 3,000lts, according
to Desalegn.
In rural parts of the country, household production
of milk has reportedly diminished due to the failure
of Belg rains. A rise in the price of a bond
of hay from 10 Br to 25 Br has become unsustainable
among farmers.
Moreover, factories producing animal feed apply
various ingredients, such as salt and oil, to
prepare nutritious animal feed. These ingredients
have also been subject to rising prices.
Hanna represents the middle-income group of urban
dwellers badly affected by the all-round increase in
the price of basic commodities and therefore cannot
properly plan for expenses.
In April 2008, the overall inflation rate was
19.9pc. The headline inflation (on food items) was
even worse at 26.6pc, significantly mounting from
16.9pc at the same time last year. |
