Milk producing regions to benefit from KCC upgrade

President William Ruto, in the first Cabinet meeting held outside Nairobi, has spelt out his government’s plan to revamp the milk sub-sector, one of the key income earners in the 11 counties of the Mountain region.

He said the Cabinet, which met at Sagana State Lodge, in Nyeri had resolved to review taxes imposed on the manufacture of animal feed as one way to reduce high retail prices of feed.

“The Cabinet meeting in Sagana has authorised yellow maize and other products used in the manufacture of animal feeds to be imported in the country duty free so that farmers can access the animal feeds at a cheap price. I direct the Agriculture Ministry to ensure manufacturers lower the prices so that benefit of exempted taxes is transferred to farmers,” Ruto said.

In addition, the government is keen on finalising the refurbishment of all New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) factories by installing new equipment to increase efficiency and reduce loss during milk processing.

Modernisation programme

“The government has budgeted Sh3 billion in modernisation programme of KCC where Kiganjo, Nyahururu, Eldoret and Sotik factories are already complete. The last phase of the programme targeting Nyambene, Miritini, Dandora, Runyejes and Kitale factories is in progress,” Ruto said.

“We also intend to build a new factory in Narok. Once the modernisation programme is complete, it will increase KCC processing capacity from 360,000 litres to 800,000 litres.”

In a bid to stabilise the price of milk during surplus seasons, the president said that KCC mop up all the milk from the farmers and process it into powdered milk adding that the measures that his government has put in place aims to increase milk production from 5.2 to 10 billion litres in the next five years.

Additionally, Ruto revealed that the government will install 650 milk cooler plants in all the wards practicing dairy farming by December this year to curb milk spoilage in the time between milking and reaching the processing factory.

“Since milk is a highly perishable commodity, we shall establish coolants in all wards where milk is produced and I want all counties to build infrastructure where these facilities will be set up. Coolants will reduce transport cost which is charged on farmers and ensure that the quality of milk is preserved,” Ruto said.

To increase the uptake of processed milk in the country, the president said that the Ministry of Education will integrate consumption of milk in the feeding programme that targets four million school going children.

The government further announced that it will lower the cost of artificial insemination currently charged at Sh6000 per cow to Sh500.

The president ordered Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre (KAGRIC) to ensure that farmers get quality breed for milk and beef producing cattle.

He pressed on farmers to take advantage of the subsided fertiliser to grow more animal foliage where excess can be stored as silages for animals to consume during dry seasons.

Cheap loans

Ruto also urged dairy farmers to access the Agriculture Finance Corporation (AFC) cheap loan which is being offered at a low-interest rates of eight per cent.

On his part, the deputy president Rigathi Gachagua said the reforms have started in earnest after his boss handled him the responsibility to streamline the subsector alongside tea and coffee.

Gachagua called for the amendment of the Cooperative Act to ensure farmers get maximum returns from the sale of milk.

“In the forthcoming dairy conference, one of the issues to be discussed is the amendments of the cooperative act to protect farmers from exploitation. When KCC pays Sh50 per litre, the cooperative societies deduct too much money than what is required driving the farmers almost to a loss,” the deputy president said.