By Confident Malengwe
The dairy sector in Uasin Gishu is expected to receive a major boost after the launch of the ECDE school milk program by the county government.
According to the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) Managing Director Margaret Kibogy, dairy farmers should take advantage of the new program and enhance milk production.
Kibogy hopes the program will be embraced by governors across the country, which will effectively enhance the sector that currently contributes 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“We have a capacity of producing 4.5 million litres of milk but we need more,” said the Kenya Dairy Board MD.
“The market is there, this is a sector where you work and earn monthly income,” she added.
Further, the MD revealed that they have already put in place interventions that seek to protect the interests of a dairy farmer.
Among the interventions, Kibogy said, include the gazettement of the guaranteed minimum return that ensures no farmer is exposed to pricing issues.
“The cost of producing a litre of milk has also been looked at,” said the KDB boss.
She also challenged the youths to venture into dairy farming, pointing out that this is the only way to make the sector be more vibrant.
Eldoret New KCC factory
Calls for increased production of milk were also made by the New KCC Managing Director Nixon Sigei.
Sigei says the Eldoret New KCC was yet to operate at maximum capacity due to a low supply of milk from farmers.
This is despite the government investing over Ksh700 million in modernizing the factory.
“We have the potential of employing an additional 2,000 workers only if this factory runs 24 hours non-stop; the only thing we need is milk,” said the New KCC Managing Director.
Kenya is one of the biggest milk producers in Africa. It is also among the highest in annual per capita consumption of milk in Sub-Saharan Africa, estimated at about 110 million litres which is approximately an average of 300ml per capita per day.
Kenya’s dairy sector stands at 14% of the agricultural GDP with 56% of the total output coming from the stallholders farmers.
Other counties should emulate what UG is doing. Otherwise the story is very insightful.