Dairy farmers in Bungoma and environs have a big reason to smile after the revival of the troubled Kitinda dairy factory in Kanduyi.
The factory has 1,500 active members and is now producing more than 5,000 litres of milk a day. It was built in the 1980s and was once a giant processor in the region before management wrangles and destructive politics brought it to its knees.
Yesterday, Ken Wanyonyi from Ranje village, Kanduyi, said the factory has greatly improved under the current leadership as they are paid on time and wrangles over leadership have ended.
Chief executive officer Bonventure Masibo said that through good working rapport with all players, he has enabled the factory to get back to life. Thousands of families depend on it directly and indirectly for survival.
"We make fresh pasteurised milk after our farmers who are from Kimilili, Tongaren, Kabuchai, Kanduyi Mumuias East and Navakholo supply us with milk that is now selling in most of the Bungoma shops, its environs and neighbouring Uganda," he said.
Masibo said he assumed the mantle at a time the company was unstable. It was receiving about 500 litres of milk and payment to farmers was a big problem. He said there was no policy and structures in place, lack of adequate marketing skills and even the capacity and equipment to process the milk was a headache.
"Today we have a processing plant, we have the pasteuriser chilling and packaging machines in place and we are now processing 5,000 litres per day. We recently received a milk chiller powered by solar from the national government that will increase our production to 20,000 litres per day," he said.
He said that the factory is now stable and its leadership is committed to working round the clock to ensure farmers benefit. They signed a performance policy that will help them work with like-minded partners to improve the lives of farmers.
Masibo said the factory has partnered with the county Agriculture Department and received some equipment to use and farmers have also been taught lessons and tips on profitable dairy farming.
"We wrote a proposal to GIAZ where we got some equipment that has made us switch to digital mode and we do not use firewood to boil our milk as we now use electricity," he said.
"We last year sent two Famers in the Netherlands where they studied about dairy farming. This year we are sending another team to Germany who will share with others the lessons learned."
