Dairy farming
Dairy farmers in Nakuru earned Sh13.9 billion from the sale of 318 million litres of milk last year with exotic breeds accounting for 60 percent of milk production and indigenous ones 40 per cent.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) in charge of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Mr Leonard Bor stated that the devolved unit has an estimated population of 466,800 dairy cattle and added that the value of raw milk produced in the County is projected to increase by about 22 percent in the next three years to over 16 billion shillings.
Mr Bor indicated that the joint initiative by the County administration, the national government and private sector partners incorporates upgrading local breeds, training farmers on formulation of quality feeds and promoting good animal husbandry practices to boost milk production.
The CEC assured farmers in the county that Governor Susan Kihika’s administration will continue to channel more resources in the dairy industry as the subsector directly employs 120,212 farm families, supporting over 500,000 people in Nakuru.
Milk production in Nakuru, Mr Bor noted, has been rising gradually in the past six years due to adoption of good agricultural practices by small holder farmers and increased investments in milk collection and cooling infrastructure by the Ministry of Agriculture, the County Government and private sector players.
He said implementation of the Sh570 million Nakuru County Dairy Value Chain Strategic Plan (NCDVCSP) and support from national government’s Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme Phase Two (ASDSP II) two years ago had transformed many smallholder farms in the region into profitable ventures with farmers reaping the benefits of embracing new dairy technologies.
“Nakuru County now produces an average of 300 million litres of milk annually, an improvement of over 25 per cent since 2019 making it the third leading devolved unit in milk production after Kiambu and Murang’a counties,” noted Mr. Bor.
According to Mr Bor this has also been made possible through sustained empowerment by processors such as New KCC and Brookside Dairy Limited through training on good dairy practices that encourage growth in milk volumes.
“Thanks to interventions put in place by the County Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries through the ASDSP II programme and our partners in the private sector, dairy farmers in Nakuru are pocketing at least Sh1.6 million daily in raw milk sales to processors. The growing fortunes of dairy have seen nearly every household in all the 11 Sub Counties, especially those in the rural areas, keep at least one dairy cow, as families seek a regular source of income,”
“Farmers have been upgrading their local breeds through artificial insemination with support from both levels of government and other stakeholders. Over 6,000 farmers have used superior semen from approved bulls to serve cows so that the subsequent generation is improved to pedigree breed,” Bor pointed out.
The Agriculture Executive further indicated that the training of farmers has also addressed quality and safety of dairy products, low milk production, inefficient markets and unstable market prices, inappropriate land-use practices and post-harvest losses of dairy products.
“Climate-smart actions in the dairy sector in Kenya have a huge potential in spurring growth in the milk value chain. That’s why feed preparation and conservation is a critical aspect in sustaining production throughout the year,” added Bor.
He said the county government was empowering dairy farmer cooperatives to modernize their operations. The involvement of co-operatives along the dairy value chain, he said has also enabled farmers to better manage transaction costs involved during the marketing of raw milk.
Bor stated that the county administration has brought together 13 milk farmer groups under the umbrella Nakuru County Union of Dairy cooperatives which were jointly yielding 40,000 litres of milk per day. “Brokers and milk transporters who profiteer from dairy farmers’ sweat will soon be out of the way as we invest in dairy infrastructure while farmers use cooperatives to directly engage processors.
He noted once cooperative movement is fully adopted in the daily subsector, farmers will be able to get rid of costly transporters, and thus get more share of the producer price paid by processors. “A co-operative mode will enable Kenya to modernize its dairy sector where farmers will be compelled to sell milk via dairy societies that also become channels for quality monitoring, credit access as well as dairy husbandry training,” added Mr Bor.
Traditionally, transporters collect raw milk from farmers and market the same to various outlets only for farmers to be paid at a set price minus Sh3 a litre as transport fee. This sees transporters bargain for better prices but retain low prices for farmers.
The CECM affirmed that towards improving access to markets for dairy farmers, the County Government has been focusing on rehabilitating and developing infrastructure in rural and farming areas. Nakuru County has set up 11 milk cooling stations and milk sheds for eleven Cooperatives across the devolved unit to reduce the time farmers take in moving the perishable commodity to the facilities.
The facilities also have standby generators to mitigate power outages, boosting their output. In addition, the cooling facilities are bulking, chilling and pasteurizing raw milk before it is transported to processing facilities They are also enabling dairy farmers to store their milk and sell it to processors at a good price and at their convenience.
Among the beneficiaries are Biashara Wakulima Dairy Cooperative from Biashara Ward in Naivasha Sub- County who have received two milk cooling facilities with a total capacity of 5,000 litres, Teta Farmers in Kuresoi South who have gotten a 3000-litre cooling plant, Elbam Cooperative Society in Molo Sub-County (3000 litres) and Burgei in Rongai sub county (3000litres).
Three years ago, the County Government in partnership with Egerton University also launched the first pilot solar milk cooler in Bahati Sub County at the new Nakuru Fresh Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society while Starlight and Rongai Acacia dairy cooperatives equipment in Kuresoi North and Rongai sub counties respectively were equipped with dairy value addition machines.
The equipment includes 500 litre milk pasteurizers, 300 litre milk dispensers and milk cooling systems of 1000 litres
According to the county’s department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, 70 per cent of the total land acreage in Nakuru is agriculturally productive, with a huge capacity for livestock production, especially for dairy cows. Many farmers in the region are making good profits with all the country’s major processors collecting milk both in the lower and high-altitude regions of the county.