Two siblings from Kisii county have a reason to smile after commissioning a yoghurt processing plant at Nyaora corner in Nyanchawa, Kitutu South.
George Ogamba and Lena Kerubo, the directors of Lenack Limited, said they have been visitors to police cells because of frequent arrests by public health and county enforcement officers as they hawked milk in Kisii town.
To avoid further arrests, Ogamba and Kerubo came up with the idea of starting a processing plant.
They visited the county department of agriculture to seek advice then wrote a proposal to get support.
Agriculture executive Ezman Onsarigo assured them that his department would link them with development partners.
Ogamba said they contacted Kenya Crops and Dairy Marketing Systems, which assisted in starting the plant.
They produce Lenack yoghurt using vanilla and strawberry flavours and have received certification from the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
“The commissioning of the plant is a dream come true. We have come a long way. We started the project in 2017,” Ogamba said.
The plant can process 50 litres every day. Kerubo said they will scale production once they have a stable market.
“We have engaged 20 youths, the majority being women. We have done so because we want to empower women to be self-reliant,” she said.
Onsarigo, who commissioned the project on Friday on behalf of Governor James Ongwae, urged the youth to emulate the two by thinking out of the box.
“I am urging our youths not to rely on white-collar jobs. They should apply the skills they obtained in university or college like the one the siblings have done,” he said.
He encouraged the young generation to engage in farming, especially dairy to supply milk to the plant for value addition.
The siblings have equipment for detecting the quality of milk supplied to them by farmers before processing it.
The executive said the devolved unit is committed to supporting the youth who have ideas to pursue instead of being dependants.
“Youths have the capacity to do what will help earn a living, but because of laziness they are unable to do so,” he said.