- The Sh 150m plant is one of the flagship projects started by his predecessor Wycliffe Oparanya.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
A milk processing factory in Kakamega will be operational by year end, Governor Fernandes Barasa has said.
Barasa said his administration will allocate Sh100 million for completion of the factory at Tumbeni in Malava subcounty in the next financial budget.
The Sh150 million plant is one of the flagship projects started by his predecessor Wycliffe Oparanya.
“By the end of this calendar year, we shall come back here to commission this factory. The factory will offer more than 1, 500 jobs to residents," he said.
The factory will process 50, 000 litres of milk daily.
He was speaking when he launched the second phase of the One Cow Initiative Programme at Malava Smart Dairy Farm.
The governor distributed 170 in-calf dairy cows valued at Sh15 million to selected farmers in Malava constituency.
The programme, alongside the Smart Dairy Farms by the county government aim at improving social and economic standards of living through improved nutrition and self-employment.
This will generate income at the household level besides improving milk production.
It is part of the county government’s plan to develop the dairy sub-sector to help the residents diversify from over-reliance sugarcane farming, which is not doing well ,and boost food security.
The programme involves distribution of grade cows to farmers under the one cow initiative and development of smart farms launched by the Kakamega County Dairy Development Corporation (KDDC).
The county government bought and supplied dairy cows to selected farmers.
The benefiting farmers would then pass on the calves to others in their groups to spread the dairy cows further in readiness for the milk factory that would provide a ready market for the produce.
The county government has so far distributed 1,960 dairy cows and the beneficiaries have passed on 916 heifers to other farmers since 2015.
The livestock population has increased from 147,720 in 2016 to 177,578 in 2021.
This has increased milk production from 131.7 million litres in 2015 to 182.6 million litres in 2021, a 39 per cent increase.
Barasa said that the county will soon upgrade Malava Township into a municipality
(Edited by V. Graham)