Ruto: Ksh400B allocated to stabilise milk prices
By Nancy Marende, July 12, 2025President William Ruto has announced that the government has dedicated Ksh400 billion to stabilise milk prices in the country.
In his speech read by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi during the 103rd Ushirika Day Celebrations at the Kenyatta International Convention and Conference Centre (KICC) on Saturday, July 12, 2025, Ruto stated that the funding aims to protect farmers’ income.
“Furthermore, Ksh400 million has been dedicated to stabilising milk prices and protecting farmers’ income,” he said.
He also revealed that the government has invested Ksh4.6 billion in facility upgrades and milk stabilisation in the current financial year.
“The government has invested Ksh4.6 billion in facility upgrades and milk stabilisation efforts. In the current financial year, Ksh550 million, including 50 million for a new processing plant in Narok. Ksh100 million for the upgrade of the Runyenjes cooling plant,” he said.
Additionally, he stated that the government is supporting the construction of the Meru Dairy Cooperative with Ksh100 million already disbursed.
He also stated that milk coolers have been distributed to dairy cooperatives to improve product quality and reduce post-harvest losses.
New KCC
To add to that, he stated that the government has continued to invest in the modernisation of New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC), positioning it as a buyer of last resort during periods of milk glut.
This comes as New KCC stated that it will buy 65,000 litres of milk daily from the Kirima Dairy Cooperative Society in Kirinyaga County, bringing a sigh of relief for the society that serves over 6,000 dairy farmers to avert losses that farmers have incurred for the past few weeks.
Kirinyaga CEC Member for Cooperatives and Trade Calbert Njeru, who spoke to the media after meeting representatives from Kirima Dairy Board and New KCC in June 2025, revealed that New KCC has agreed to take up 65,000 litres of milk daily from the cooperative.
The milk processor had reduced the amount of litres from 45,000 litres of milk to 25,000 daily, a move that has left farmers with nowhere to sell their milk.
He noted that the crisis has been ongoing, resulting in farmers suffering from the milk off-taking issue, which has led to wastage. However, they have agreed on a way forward to address the matter. Among the recommendations is for the New KCC to upgrade their off-take timelines to give room for incoming milk hauliers to deliver the product from the farmers.
“We have agreed that from today, they shall be taking on a minimum of 65,000 litres daily to address the backlog that was there because of the storage capacity capabilities of our cooler equipment,” Njeru said.
The CEC assured the farmers that, going by what was agreed, all challenges will be addressed in the next few days as the county government continues with the other logistical operations and paperwork that are necessary to make sure that there is no repetition in the future of milk wastage.