Dairy farmers in Embu County have received a major boost after the National Government donated 13 bulk milk coolers worth Sh70.7 million to various cooperative societies and community-based organisations.
The coolers that were flagged off on Thursday by Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe will aid farmers in the preservation of raw milk as it awaits transportation to market.
The development comes as a relief to many of the cooperatives that have been grappling with inadequate coolers to handle the rising milk production, leading to huge post-harvest losses.
CS Kagwe said the initiative was part of the plan by the government to support dairy farmers to earn maximum returns through improved milk handling, aggregation and storage capacity.
He affirmed the government’s commitment to transforming the dairy sector through efforts such as farmer training and encouraging partnerships in increasing processing and value addition for products such as yoghurt, cheese and butter.
Of concern to farmers was the volatility of milk prices, a situation that was also aggravated by the high cost of feed that was typically the largest expense.
In response, Kagwe said they were addressing the challenge of the high cost of feed by focusing on investing in local feed production.
He encouraged farmers to grow main raw materials such as yellow maize, soybeans and canola to reduce reliance on imports, which contribute to a rise in cost due to a variety of factors such as transportation cost, import duties and currency fluctuations.
Additionally, Kagwe said the government was in the process of leasing underutilised state lands such as ADC and KALRO to private investors for large-scale production of animal feeds.
“This is what will assist in bringing the cost of animal feeds down and increase farmer profitability,” the CS said.
To further boost farmers’ returns, Kagwe said the government was actively supporting expansion of the milk processing industry through modernisation of existing facilities and construction of new ones for value addition.
State Department for Livestock Development Principal Secretary (PS) Jonathan Mueke said the milk coolers’ distribution programme was part of the government Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) priority project to improve farmers’ livelihoods through improved milk productivity.
He noted that so far, they have distributed coolers across 40 milk-producing counties through the Livestock Value Chain Support Project (LVCSP), which was a vital step in building resilience and competitiveness in the country’s dairy sector.
Mueke added that beyond coolers, they were boosting farmers’ support with subsidies on vaccines and sexed semen to drive a vibrant and profitable dairy sector.
Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire hailed the initiative, emphasising the critical role the dairy sector plays as one of the county’s key economic drivers and a vital source of livelihoods for many households.
“These milk coolers will go a long way in reducing milk losses, stabilising farmer incomes and strengthening cooperative societies,” she said.
She noted that the coolers would serve over 3,900 dairy farmers with a combined daily milk aggregation capacity of 25,000 litres valued at Sh1.1 million.
Governor Mbarire reported that Embu was one of the top milk producers in the country, with an annual production of 101 million litres, translating to Sh5.2 billion.
By Samuel Waititu
