Milk from the hills.
Owned by the hands that produce it.
Uganda Crane Creameries Cooperative Union brings together 140 primary dairy cooperatives and more than 20,000 farmers across sixteen districts of South Western Uganda, collecting, cooling and championing milk that belongs to the people who make it.
Milk collection centre · Ankole milk shed
01 Who we are
A cooperative union built from the ground up.
Established in 2005 and registered under the 1991 Cooperative Union Act, UCCCU is an umbrella union of farmer-owned primary societies. Each cooperative runs a business hub with at least one milk collection centre that also brings animal health, inputs and training within reach of its members.
Stronger together.
Better by design.
One smallholder can sell a few litres. Twenty thousand organised farmers can cool, test, transport and negotiate at a different scale entirely. That is the quiet power of cooperation.
How we are governed02 What we do
Services that meet farmers where they are.
From the milking shed to the cooling tank, our work is designed around the practical needs of cooperative members.
All services
A diagnostic laboratory at the service of members.
Established in March 2021 with the Zoetis ALPHA initiative, our laboratory brings testing closer to the farm, with over 7,000 samples handled by October 2024.
Cooperatives that are built to last.
With the Dairy Development Authority and district commercial officers, we train new and struggling cooperatives in governance, leadership and the cooperative principles.
Pooled vaccination, shared protection.
Our cooperative pooled vaccination model started with clostridial disease and lumpy skin disease, lowering costs, cutting mortality and building loyalty.
From the farm gate to a fairer market.
Inputs, feeds, breeding services and milk testing come together through the cooperative, alongside a cold chain that protects quality and value.
03 Our footprint
A dairy network with real reach.
South Western Uganda produces a disproportionate share of the nation's milk. UCCCU's cooperative network sits at the centre of that milk shed.
Every collection centre, cooler and trained technician shortens the distance between a farming family and a fair price.
04 The value chain
One chain, five links.
UCCCU works across the dairy value chain, strengthening each link so that more value stays with the farmer.
Inputs
Feeds, veterinary services, drugs, breeding and milk testing equipment sourced through cooperative partnerships.
Production
More than 20,000 members producing over 1.2 million litres of milk every day.
Collection
183 milk collection centres belonging to 140 primary cooperatives across the region.
Cooling & transport
238 member-owned coolers with an installed capacity of 714,000 litres per day.
Processing
A proposed farmer-owned processing plant, the next step in capturing value locally.
In development
Animal diagnostic laboratory · Mbarara
05 Health & science
Science that reaches the farm gate.
In March 2021, with support from the Zoetis ALPHA initiative, UCCCU opened an animal diagnostic laboratory in Mbarara. By October 2024, more than 7,000 samples had been tested, giving farmers faster answers and better decisions.
We have trained 420 veterinarians and para-veterinarians in ten districts on sample collection, handling, transportation and mastitis testing. This year we were selected as one of nine laboratories in the national tick and acaricide resistance monitoring network, working with Makerere University CoVAB, GALVmed and MAAIF.
06 Partners
Progress is a shared effort.
We work with public institutions, universities and private companies who believe in the same thing: a stronger, fairer dairy sector.
In their words
A dairy sector is only as strong as the farmers at its beginning.The UCCCU board · Mbarara
The next chapter is farmer-owned.
We are building a processing plant owned by the farmers who supply it, capturing more value, creating more opportunity and keeping dairy local.