For many households in Nyeri, a cup of tea without milk is becoming an increasingly familiar reality as dairy farmers and consumers grapple with rising prices of the commodity due to a biting shortage.
The effect is being felt across the entire milk supply chain; from farms to cafes and even in large retail stores such as supermarkets.
In Nyeri town, consumers are already paying more for some milk brands, while supermarkets have introduced restrictions on the number of packets that a customer can purchase at a time.
Kenya’s milk demand stands at 8 billion litres annually against a production of 5.76 billion liters according to statistics from the Kenya Dairy Board.
This year milk production fell by 3.7 per cent from 844 million litres in June to 81.3 million litres in July year pushing the cost of the product by Sh15 for a 500-milliliter packet.
The Board has attributed the decline to the prevailing cold and dry weather coupled with high cost in dairy feeds.
For a person like Peter Kamotho who rears dairy cows besides operating two hotels within Nyeri town, the prevailing milk shortage has hit particularly hard.
Kamotho says the rising cost of production in the dairy sector has contributed significantly to the decline in milk production.
He recalls that his cows previously used to produce about 30 litres of milk on a normal day.
Today this figure has now dropped to a measly 10 litres.
The shortage has also affected his cafe, where milk is an important ingredient in serving customers.
“My cows used to produce 30 litres of milk, but now they are producing only 10 litres per day. I used to use seven litres of milk in the cafe every day, but because of the shortage, I have reduced it to five litres.” Kamotho says.
He attributes the decline partly to the increasing cost of commercial animal feeds, which has made it difficult for farmers to maintain adequate feeding for their animals.
Consumers are also feeling the impact.
Kamotho says he has increased his retail milk price by ten shillings, adding to the financial pressure facing customers.
The situation has also changed how some farmers choose to sell their milk.
Kamotho says selling milk directly to consumers is currently more profitable than supplying dairy factories.
He says a farmer can sell milk at around Sh70 per litre in the retail market, compared with about Sh50 per litre when selling to a dairy factory.
“I prefer selling milk at retail because it is more profitable. If I sell it at Sh70 per litre at retail compared to Sh50 per litre at a dairy factory, retail gives me a better return,” he says.
However, some dairy processors are trying to attract farmers by offering better prices.
For instance, Sila Dairy Factory has increased the price paid to farmers from Sh42 to Sh50 per litre, an adjustment he says is encouraging some farmers to move from other dairy factories.
“The increase from Sh42 to Sh50 is more encouraging to farmers, and some farmers are now shifting from their previous dairy factories to Sila Dairy because of the better price,” he says.
Peris Muthoni the proprietor of AP Café has also been forced to deal with reduced supplies due to the current shortage.
Muthoni however says the decline in the supply of milk has now forced her to pay more for the commodity as farmers have also hiked prices blaming the increase to high production.
“I am now paying Sh80 up for a litre of milk up from Sh60 since supplies have drastically gone down. Fortunately, we still can find milk though it had initially disappeared the day reports about milk shortage in the country was first reported,” she told KNA.
She however hopes the situation will stabilize now that the rains have commenced though she does not see this happening until a month into the rainy season.
The shortage is also being felt at local milk outlets.
At Ihururu Milk Bar, Faith Makia said the business is experiencing a shortage of milk, forcing them to increase the price from Sh65 to Sh70 per litre.
“We are experiencing a shortage of milk, which has forced us to increase the price from Sh60 to Sh70” Makia says.
A survey of several supermarkets found that prices of different milk brands have increased, with some outlets also limiting the quantity that customers can purchase.
At Khetias Supermarket, prices for brands including Mt Kenya milk, Brookside milk Royal milk and Daima milk have increased by about ten shillings.
The supermarket has also restricted customers to purchasing a maximum of four packets of milk at a time.
At Mathias Supermarket, several brands, including Fresha, Mount Kenya and Royal, have recorded price increases of about Sh5 and retailing at Sh70.
A similar trend was observed at Naivas Nyeri, where brands such as Mt Kenya, Royal and Fresha have also recorded increases of about Sh5 and are selling at Sh70.
Last month a survey by KNA at milk delivery outlets in Nyeri town and its environs laid bare the situation on the ground with some dairies being forced to reduce the number of their clients to cope with the drop.
Mr Jackson Maina who is the Operations Manager at Meskins Dairy near Gatitu trading center said they have been forced to cut down on the amount of milk they supply to clients due to the biting shortage.
Maina said currently the firm was collecting 6,000 liters of milk on a daily basis compared to 10,000 litres it used to handle early this year.
“The situation is not good in terms of the amount of milk we are receiving from our suppliers on a daily basis. From January this year we used to collect up to 10,000 liters of fresh milk on a normal working day. But beginning June this year deliveries started dropping drastically. Today we are only receiving 6,000 liters daily which is far below the daily demand of our clients.” he said.
Maina pointed out that their only hope was for the weather to improve during short rains to allow pasture to regenerate and ease farmers’ dependence on commercial dairy feeds owing to their high cost.
He warned that unless this happens the future of the dairy sector will be at stake.
“One of the causes for the current milk shortage is the high cost of animal feed which has forced many dairy farmers to abandon milk production. The problem has also been aggravated by the long cold and dry spell that has greatly affected production of nappier grass and other animal fodder which in effect has affected the milk production for individual animals. Right now, our only hope for the situation to stabilize in early January next year if the El Nino rains do come,” he added.
Robert Wambugu a Manager at the Senior Nyeri Dairy told KNA milk delivery at the plant has dropped from 30,000 liters early this year to 25,000 in September.
Wambugu said the drop in delivery had been counterproductive to the facility forcing it to lay off some of its staff.
He blamed the decline in milk production to shortage of animal pasture and the high cost of commercial feeds which he said is way above what farmers can afford.
“The situation at this facility is not so good owing to the decline in the amount of milk we are receiving from our farmers. Most of our suppliers are complaining about the high cost of production in the dairy sector and some have abandoned it altogether. Right now, we are closing down at 5pm since by then we have already sold out our remaining stock. The less we get from our farmers the less we deliver to our clients which ultimately translates to lost earnings,” he said.
by Samuel Maina/George Kabithi
