The Kiambu county government has set aside Sh150 million to boost dairy farming in the region.
Governor James Nyoro said the money will be utilised to deliver shared services to the 23 dairy cooperative societies in the county.
Nyoro spoke when breaking ground for construction of Mang’u Progressive Dairy Cooperative Society processing plant in Miteero, Gatundu North.
He said the money will be spent in procurement of cooling plants, milk pasteurisers, offering extension services on Napier grass, fodder, veterinary and artificial insemination services.
“The county government is committed to enabling dairy farmers to increase their production, which will translate to increased returns from their milk. We will be offering essential services like the sexed semen AI to ensure that the farmers get high-yielding breeds,” Nyoro said.
The governor said his government will support Mang’u Progressive Dairy Cooperative Society, which collects milk from farmers in the entire Gatundu North subcounty, with crucial equipment like coolers and pasteurisers as well as services to boost dairy farming in the region.
“The cooperative was started by only 22 members around seven years ago and the number has risen to over 1,000. They have been operating on rented premises in Miteero village but we have secured them a piece of land within the village where they are putting up a new processing plant. We are currently processing a title deed for the piece of land,” he said.
Nyoro said that the county government has also sought consultancy services to come up with a five-year strategic plan for the dairy cooperative, noting that it has capacity to generate between Sh4 billion and Sh5 billion annually.
“We also through the Kenya Devolution Services Programme procured a milk pasteuriser for the cooperative so that they can generate higher income from their milk. This will mean that even the small-scale farmer bringing their milk to the dairy cooperative will benefit from better pay for their produce,” Nyoro said.
The county chief said the multimillion-shilling irrigation scheme that has been initiated in Kamwamba, Gatundu North, will be used by farmers to grow fodder in large scale to boost milk production.
Bernard Waweru, the Mang’u cooperative manager, told journalists on Monday that milk collection has increased from 110 litres in 2014 to 20,000 litres daily. Membership has grown to 148 members.
“We are currently expanding the dairy with the help of partners like the Kiambu county government and we expect more farmers to join us. We also project our daily capacity to rise to 30,000 in the next five months,” he said.
The cooperative buys milk from farmers at Sh37 per litre, an amount he said will rise to over Sh40 following the numerous developments.
Edited by Henry Makori
