State to install milk coolers in all wards
By KNA, January 22, 2024Dairy farmers have a reason to smile following the government’s pledge to install milk coolers in the modernisation programme of Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) facilities in all wards countrywide.
Move has been motivated by the need to eliminate middlemen who buy milk at throw-away prices in rural areas and later make profits by selling the commodity at higher prices in the upper market.
Cooperatives and Micro and Small Enterprise Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui acknowledged that dairy farmers struggle with challenges of storage, preservation of milk, high cost of feed and access to markets.
He said the Kenya Kwanza administration has taken immediate steps to reinstate the stalled milk coolers’ programme and the distribution of 650 milk coolers was on course.
“In our plan, we have identified the dairy and livestock economy as sub-sectors with the quickest economic turnaround time and they will become key drivers in improving food security, creating jobs and boosting exports,” he said.
Chelugui revealed that the government was working on plans to establish a milk price-stabilising fund of close to Sh3 billion. He spoke at the weekend when he met dairy and coffee farmers from Bahati Sub-County in Nakuru.