Cows are extremely important in the culture of this country and symbolize wealth, prosperity and identity. To this day, they are valued as a dowry. Since the government of President Paul Kagame in Rwanda introduced the Girinka program in 2006, milk consumption has doubled. One reason for this agenda was the disrupted growth in children. Even in the mid-1990s, you could often see small metal and wooden kiosks in the capital Kigali with the sign “Amata na Fanta Bikonje” (“Cold milk and soft drinks”). They were run primarily by young women who disappeared the moment city planning began to focus on beautifying streets and boulevards. This included the establishment of localities called “milk bars”.
When 33-year-old Hasna Biryogo married three years ago, she quit her job as a saleswoman and decided to start her own business. She thought about what she could offer her children one day. So she opened a milk bar in Nyamirambo, the Muslim quarter of Kigali. And no matter how strange that sounds, in Rwanda’s capitals it has long been a business model to only serve milk, either fresh or fermented. The establishments are called “Amata Meza” or “Milk Zone”.
Hasna Biryogo’s eatery is spacious and immaculately white. A 300-liter milk tank dominates the room, plus a few tables, plastic chairs and the small counter in the background. “My first investment was milk containers for 200 liters. At that time, I started bringing the milk from the tank to the table for customers with a large jug in hand – that’s how it has remained to this day. ”200 to 300 liters of milk are sold every day. “The people who come at noon drink it with a snack. Most of the milk can be filled in the afternoon to take home, ”says Hasna. Before she opens her shop in the morning, she delivers to hotels and restaurants in the area.
The milk comes from Nyanza Milk Industries Ltd., the second largest milk producer in the country. The Amata Meza market in Kigali is practically divided between the two most important companies in the industry, between Inyange Industries Ltd. and Nyanza Milk Industries Ltd., said Hasna. You only have to walk a few streets to reach the Inyange Milk Zone of driver Alexis. It is twelve noon, a good 20 Boda Boda drivers have parked their motorcycle taxis, which are on the road all over the city, and are taking a break. They chat lively while drinking the ration of milk, which many serve as a substitute for lunch. Alexis Musoni, 26, works in one of 76 Inyange Milk Zones currently in Kigali. “You can get milk there from seven in the morning until ten at night,” says Alexis.
The 23-year-old Elie Niyishobora has also recently started running a milk bar, together with the 24-year-old Athanase Hafashimana, with whom he has been friends since childhood. When the two young men were considering which business they could get into, they decided to open a small “Meza” because the investments remained manageable. “It went very well at the beginning, but recently we lost customers,” reports Elie with a resigned smile. Its bar is small and dark, with low tables and a counter selling various snacks, as well as thermoses of hot milk and some tea or coffee. Every morning a delivery man comes on his bike and brings 20 liters of milk from a nearby farm. That’s all Elie can sell every day, unlike his neighbor Hasna.
A glass replaces the meal
People keep walking in and out of a milk bar in front of the popular Kimironko market. It is difficult to find a seat until a lady in her mid-50s gives a sign and invites to her table. In perfect French, Marie Médiatrice Mukamabano tells what she is up to. “I was in Kigali to visit a friend. Before going back on the bus, I came to this Amata Meza to drink milk because it is cheap and filling. ”For her, it will replace the meal until she reaches her home in the Rwamagana district, two hours from Kigali .
There is no end to the comings and goings in the milk bar, while a boy in school uniform at the other side of the table calmly dips a cupcake into his hot milk and two men bring in several kegs of milk that they have loaded from a small truck. Meanwhile, the couple who run the bar are busy serving milk. The 37-year-old Antoine Muyange serves the guests, the 34-year-old Madeleine Uwera the take-away customers at a window that faces the street.
.