Migori traders are importing milk from Tanzania following a shortage of the commodity ion the region.
The traders says prices have shot up because of the slight dry season which in the area and the impassable roads in the Rift Valley where most of the supply is sourced.
Speaking to the Star on Thursday, vendor Milka Nyagilo said she has been forced to seek the commodity from Tarime and North Mara areas of Tanzania.
“The customer is accustomed to Sh60 per litre of milk at retail, which we can only maintain by importing milk, often illegally across the border. Other areas and internal supplies have dried up,” Nyagilo said.
According to data from the Migori county government’s department of livestock, fisheries and agriculture, the county averagely produces 25 million litres of milk annually, which is way lower than its demand of 88 million litres per year.
Because of the shortage, the county is forced to import 10 per cent of milk mostly from Tanzania.
Agriculture executive Valentine Ogongo said Migori currently gets 20 per cent of its milk from Trans Mara, Nandi and Homa Bay counties.
He said because of cross-culture where communities cut across the border, milk imports from Tanzania have increased.
“We rely on milk from Trans Mara, Nandi, and even import from Tanzania. Our farmers can get the milk from across the border because of the good relations between the two countries,” Ogongo said.
He said the deficit has been caused by increase in population, climate change, and types of feeds given to cows.
“A family will need two litres of milk a day which can be sustained by a cow, but feeds have been hard to come by and there is a huge demand in our urban centres,” Ogongo said.
He said to reverse the shortage, Migori has partnered with the national government, World Bank and other stakeholders, and put up several measures that will boost milk production
The county launched a programme dubbed one dairy cow per sugarcane/tobacco farmer in 2014 where farmers are put in clusters of 10 and are given one animal.
After its gives birth, the calf is given to each of the farmers in the cluster.
So far, the county has given 470 cows to farmers since 2014.
Last year, the county gave 90 cows to farmers.
“We have been able to increase milk production by 10 per cent which has seen us invest in coolers in Oyani, Suna West and Rongo areas to help preserve milk and have a steady supply,” he said.
The CEC urged more farmers to prioritise dairy farming to help bridge the milk shortage in the county.
“Let the farmers give priority to dairy farming that will help them earn more money because milk can be a value chain for farmers to have nutrition,” Ogongo said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
