Kigali is facing a worsening milk shortage, with supermarkets rationing the few packets available and many neighbourhood shops running out completely.
At a Simba Supermarket outlet visited by Taarifa on Friday, customers were allowed to purchase only one 500ml packet of milk each.
In smaller shops across the capital, packaged milk has largely disappeared from refrigerators. A few outlets still have Mukamira milk, but it is also becoming increasingly scarce.
Fresh pasteurised milk remains available at some Inyange Milk Zones, although customers can only obtain measured quantities as demand exceeds supply.
The shortage is squeezing small businesses that depend on milk every day.
“We are under serious pressure,” said the operator of a small coffee shop in Kigali. “It is difficult to increase prices because customers will complain, but it is also difficult to find milk consistently. We are caught in a dilemma. We are making losses, and when customers repeatedly fail to get what they want, they may never return.”
Families with young children are also struggling. One breastfeeding mother told Taarifa that she relies on cow’s milk to supplement what she produces.
“I do not have enough breast milk, so I supplement it with cow’s milk,” she said. “Finding milk has become very difficult. I now have to buy other supplements, which are expensive.”
Powdered milk is the main alternative, but its price puts it beyond the regular household budget. A one-kilogram tin of Nido can cost Rwf20,000 or more, depending on the shop.
Inyange also produces powdered milk, but much of it is intended for export and industrial use and is barely available to ordinary consumers. The factory uses a significant share of available raw milk for powder production, even as households and small businesses struggle to secure fresh and packaged milk.
Inyange Industries, Rwanda’s largest dairy processor, has attributed the shortage to the prolonged dry season, which has drastically reduced milk production.
“This year, we have experienced a prolonged dry season that has drastically affected our milk production volumes,” the company said in a public notice issued on September 11.
Inyange said its prices to distributors have not changed since March 2026. A carton of 500ml whole milk remains priced at Rwf8,000 for distributors and Rwf8,500 at Milk Zones, while fresh pasteurised whole milk is sold at Rwf800 per litre at the company’s Milk Zones.
The clarification appears intended to discourage retailers from exploiting the shortage through unjustified price increases. Inyange said any future adjustment would be announced publicly and in advance.
Prolonged drought reduces the pasture and water available to cattle, cutting the amount of milk farmers can deliver to collection centres and processing plants.
However, the scarcity has also raised questions about how the limited milk reaching factories is divided between fresh milk, packaged products and milk powder.
For families, restaurants and coffee shops, the crisis is already being felt at the counter: fewer packets, strict purchasing limits, rising costs and, in many neighbourhoods, no milk at all.
