Dairy farmers in Limuru are set to benefit from Sh145 million funding meant to install an Ultra Heated Treated milk processing machine.
This is as the World Bank and Kiambu County government agreed to unlock the implementation of the funds.
The agreement was done on Friday in a meeting convened by Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi which involved National Agricultural and Rural Inclusive Growth Project representatives, Limuru Dairy Cooperative board and officials, and the Kiambu County Government
In the agreement, the World Bank pledged to provide Sh100 million to partially fund the purchase of UHT milk processing machine, for the Limuru Milk Processing plant.
Sh30 million will to be raised by the Kiambu County Government while the remaining Sh15 million will be contributed by farmers.
According to Governor Wamatangi, the World Bank had given the facility's management a deadline of December last year to have complied with the terms of the agreement but they have however agreed to extend the time.
“The World Bank has promised to consider releasing the Sh100 million grant it allocated for the project that was on the verge of collapsing due to suspected conflict of interests by unscrupulous officials,” Wamatangi said.
The governor blamed brokers who sneaked into the deal disguised as the Dairy cooperation official for slowing the process by demanding some percentage of the funding.
"When we were conducting several meetings, consulting and deciding on the way forward, some people were busy misleading our people," he said.
The funding is aimed at the revival of the Limuru Milk Processing plant.
Limuru Dairy Cooperative chairman Njuguna Chege said the project would boost the fortunes of the Limuru dairy farmers cooperative which is wholly owned by smallholder farmers.
“The machine we are currently using is one of the oldest in the country, upgrading of the facility will have a tremendous impact on Limuru, Kikuyu, Lari and Kabete subcounties dairy farmers who depend on the cooperation,” Chege said.
The chairman added; "dairy farming is the backbone of our people’s economy and the installation of the UHT machine can add value to farmers’ milk and increase productivity.”
“We look forward to the project because it will save us from the middle man who buy our milk at a very low price since the dairy cooperation has no capacity to take all our milk,” Francis Kabunyi a dairy farmer in Limuru, said.
