Kenya to produce 12 billion litres of milk annually by 2030 — dairy board

The dairy sector is expected to produce 12 billion litres of milk annually by 2030, Kenya Dairy Board managing director Margaret Kibogy has said.

Kenya produces between 5.5 to 5.8 billion litres of milk annually but the sector is growing at five per cent every year.

“The sector is a source of livelihood to an estimated 1.8 million smallholder households,” Kibogy said.

The director spoke during the fourth national school milk conference in Mombasa last Friday.

The two-day conference under the theme, ‘Milk for a healthy generation’ brought together about 400 delegates representing the 47 counties.

Kibogy said the milk sector has been vibrant, contributing about four per cent to the national gross domestic product.

It also contributes about 12 per cent to the agricultural sector and about 44 per cent to the livestock sector.

“The sector provides direct employment to an estimated 750,000 waged employees and about 500,000 indirect employees in allied sectors,” the director said.

Last year, cow milk production grew by 100 million litres to four billion litres and the production of camel milk grew to 1.1 billion litres.

Kibogy said the demand for powder camel milk is growing in China.

The counties of Garissa and Marsabit are the biggest producers of camel milk.

Goat milk production however remained low at 276 million litres.

The government through the International Fund for Agricultural Development looks to improve the segment, expecting to double or even triple the production in years to come.

Production of sheep milk also remained relatively low standing at about 107.24 million litres last year.

However, with an estimated population of about 48 million people and a demand of between 65 and 75 million litres of milk per month in the formal sector only, consumption of milk is expected to surpass production by the year 2029.

The director said the government is therefore working round the clock to increase production.

Kibogy said the dairy board is looking at expanding milk markets through the School Milk Programmes targeting about 13.5 million ECDE and primary school-going pupils in the country.

“With a pupil population of 13.5 million in Early Childhood Development Education centres and primary schools, school milk is destined to improve children's health,” she said.

The programme is currently being implemented in eight counties benefiting about 327,191 ECDE pupils spread across 3,966 public schools in the counties.

In Mombasa, 32,564 ECDE pupils in 97 public schools are benefiting from the programme, Kilifi has the highest number of 80,000 pupils in 799 public schools while in Nairobi, 17,000 pupils from 250 public schools benefit.

Other counties implementing the programme include Murang’a (40,000), Embu (17,353), Meru (64,574), Nyandarua (22,700) and Bomet (53,000).

Currently, 802 private schools in the country are implementing the programme benefiting about 350,000 pupils.

“I am hopeful that the number of counties implementing the programme will rise,” Kabogy said.

The school milk programme began in 1980 during former President Daniel Moi’s regime.

Livestock Principal Secretary Hillary Kimutai said the programme is instrumental in improving the Universal Health Care pillar in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.

He said global statistics show that feeding children with milk improves their health and helps address malnutrition issues in the country.

“It is important to note that besides the nutritional contribution of this kind of feeding programme, there have been tremendous improvements in school attendance, enrolment, and academic performance in the implementing counties,” Kimutai said.

He said that the programme also acts as a driver of diary development by promoting investments in the dairy value chain.

The PS encouraged the remaining 39 counties to take up the programme, to make it uniform across the country.

“I hope this conference will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to continue engaging and deliberating on up-scaling the school milk programme to all the 47 counties,” he said.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)