Dr Michael Kansiime, Chief Executive of the Dairy Development Authority (DDA), who oversaw the historic transformation of Uganda’s dairy industry in a very short time, has died.
Kansiime passed away Tuesday night after a long battle with kidney disease. He was in his early 60s.
It is understood that Kansiime’s wife had donated a kidney to him, but this did not help his health.
Kansiime’s death has shocked the veterinary fraternity in Uganda.
Yet while appearing at the Kampala Media Center in July, Kansiime looked frail.
Kansiime, a distinguished veterinary surgeon and professor at Makerere College of Veterinary Medicine, was elected in 2020 to lead the DDA.
At the time, DDA was dealing with poor performance, intrigue, and infighting.
However, Kansiime was able to double the value of Uganda’s milk exports from Shs 176 billion in 2018/2019 to Shs 388 billion in 2020/21.
Milk production increased from 2.5 billion liters in 2019 to 2.8 billion liters in 2021.
An older boy from the Ntare school in the Mbarara district, Kansiime was known to be kind and devoted.
In 1984, he joined Makerere University, graduating with a degree in veterinary medicine in 1990.
In 2010, Kansiime represented Uganda in the regional body CAHNET (Community Animal Health Network), providing oversight functions to CAHNET programs and management.
Kansiime also served as Director of the African Institute for Strategic Animal Resources Services and Development (AFRISA) at Makerere University.
At the time of his death, Dr. Kansiime was spearheading efforts to boost Uganda’s milk exports.
“Uganda is poised to become Africa’s largest dairy exporter and the sector is slowly making its way into Uganda’s top exports, along with coffee and tea,” he said at a recent function in Kampala.
Dr. Kansiime had convinced President Museveni for a complete overhaul of the dairy industry through rehabilitation and equipping of milk collection centers (MCCs) and upgrading of cold chain facilities to reduce losses. post harvest.
He also played a key role in persuading the government to upgrade the Entebbe Dairy Training School (EDTS) to the National Dairy Hatchery and Training School (NDTIC) to produce Dairy Technologists and Dairy Technicians and also invest in regional operating units in 9 regions of Uganda to bring services closer to the farms.
“I hope that the dairy sector will soon be Uganda’s top foreign exchange earner as we move further into the agro-industrialization agenda, thus offering more employment opportunities than any other sector and providing an excellent opportunity for national transformation.” Kansiime said.
