Githunguri Dairy Farmers Co-operative Society has weathered the hard economic times to register a Sh1.1 billion profit for the 2021.22 financial year.
The firm that packages the Fresha brand of milk and other dairy products reported the increase in profit during its Annual General Meeting.
The society's chairman George Kinuthia attributed the success of the rural dairy cooperative to rising milk prices, increased production and a rise in registered membership.
He said that the society's membership currently stands at 27,114 with 11,691 being active and prevailed upon the dormant ones to revive their accounts.
“GDFCS has grown to a registered membership of over 26,000, with current daily production of 240,000 litres,” said Kinuthia.
He however said farmers are currently grappling with high cost of animal feed.
“Prices of dairy meal, maize germ, bran and pollard has continued to rise thereby adversely affecting dairy farming despite the government having waived their taxes,” he said.
He said the cost of production materials had also gone up by between 40-70 percent.
"It's worth noting that despite the hardships and challenges we encountered, the society increased its milk production by more than six million litres," he said.
He said farmers should strive to increase their production since the demand for milk and dairy products remains high.
"The more milk you deliver to us, the lesser the production cost and hence the better payment for farmers. During the 2021/2022 financial year, we increased the prices of milk from Sh41.50 to Sh45 per litre," said the chairman.
The society was recently recognised as the best managed society in Kenya.
Kinuthia encouraged the youth to embrace dairy farming as a business venture and benefit from President William Ruto’s ten-year plan to reform the agriculture sector in the country.
The dairy sector is estimated at 15 per cent of the agricultural sectors contribution to the GDP which stood at 22.43 percent in 2021.