Months passed, several promises were made, and finally, the government changed.

For months, dairy farmers have been waiting for the government to make both state-owned and private dairies liable to pay their dues.

Since December, the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation and private dairies have not paid farmers, and according to rough estimates by the National Peasants' Coalition Nepal, a group of farmers, the dues have now piled up to Rs6.5 billion.

Most farmers pay their children’s school fees, hospital bills, and food bills with their income from selling milk. Some of their earnings go to buying animal fodder.

“The government changed, but the issues have not been resolved,” said Ganesh Chandra Timilsina, coordinator of the National Peasants' Coalition Nepal. “Farmers will make a last-ditch effort now. They will hit the streets.”

“The total dues now amount to Rs6.5 billion, even after farmers have received partial payment.”

Farmers are holding a meeting on August 19 to announce various protest programmes. “Since it’s a new government, we decided to wait if it could address our grievances,” said Timilsina.

The issue has been raised in Parliament, too. On Tuesday, lawmaker Gagan Thapa said the government would soon release Rs600 million to the DDC to pay the farmers. Thapa’s party, Nepali Congress, is the biggest partner in the KP Sharma Oli-led coalition.

“It’s a good beginning for the new government. But the government should also realise that problems will recur, particularly in the dairy sector,” Thapa told the House of Representatives.

He said that the Agriculture and Industry ministers should discuss exporting milk to Bangladesh and China. If Nepal is able to export milk to these countries, farmers can get better prices.

Ramnath Adhikari, minister for agriculture and livestock development, has asked the farmers’ group to wait for 10–15 days more.

The farmers' group met with the agriculture minister last Friday.

“We don’t have much hope from the minister as well,” said Timilsina, adding that they have received lofty promises from several governments, but their issues remain unresolved.

Former agriculture minister Jwala Kumari Sah, too, had promised to address the issue.

The private dairy associations say their dues to farmers have reached over Rs2 billion.

Prahlad Dahal, president of the Nepal Dairy Association, said they (private dairy) owe Rs2 billion to the farmers. “There are rumours in the market that we owe farmers Rs4.5 billion. It’s not true.”

“We have been paying the farmers partially.”

He said that the demand for dairy products has grown. “We are not able to pay farmers the whole sum. We are gradually clearing their dues,” said Dahal.

“As big dairies fail to pay the farmers, the amount has become bigger.”

On March 4, three private dairy associations—Central Dairy Cooperatives Association, Nepal Dairy Association, and Dairy Industry Association—the state-owned Dairy Development Corporation, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had signed a trilateral agreement to pay farmers' their dues by April 3.

Dairy farmers, however, said there were no representatives from their side during its signing.

However, the government failed to commit to requiring the dairy associations to pay the farmers' dues.

According to the dairy association, the state-owned dairy supplier covers 30 percent of Nepal’s dairy market, and the rest is catered by private dairies.

Private dairies have around 2,000 tonnes of butter in stock.

Nearly 3,000 tonnes of milk, valued at Rs90 million, arrives in the market daily across the country through private and state-owned diaries.

The informal milk trade—from farmers to customers—is even bigger.

Surya Prasad Paudel, general manager of the Dairy Development Corporation, said that the corporation has 750 tonnes of butter and 850 tonnes of powdered milk in stock.

“We requested a loan of Rs600 million with the agriculture ministry a few months ago, but we have not received it yet. We have heard that it is still being processed,” said Paudel, adding that the corporation was doing its best to clear farmers' dues by taking loans.

In February, the corporation sought a bailout fund from the finance ministry. Subsequently, in March, the government decided to provide the credit.

The corporation earlier said that due to the economic slowdown, consumption of dairy products has dropped sharply, putting them in a difficult situation.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Nepal's economy. It contributes 24.60 percent to the country's GDP and employs more than half the population. The share of the dairy sector in the agricultural GDP is 8 percent.