Foot and mouth and lumpy skin diseases in dairy cattle have been blamed for low milk production in Kiambu county.
The diseases saw milk production by farmers from Githunguri Dairy Co-operative Society drop by two million litres amid rising cost of production.
This year, the society's 11,300 active farmers from a total of 26,422 members delivered 81,419,909 litres of milk compared to 83,287,526 million the previous year.
“In the year 2019, diseases like foot and mouth and lumpy skin killed a lot of dairy cattle and milk production went down from 280,000 litres daily to 200,000 litres. Lack of vaccine made the diseases to escalate. Now the government has assured us that there is an effective vaccine and we urge farmers to get their cows vaccinated,” chairman George Kinuthia said during a virtual annual general meeting.
The society, which is the third largest milk processor that is owned by farmers and is famed for its flagship ‘Fresha’ milk products, celebrated 60 years in business and is paying farmers Sh41.50 per litre up from Sh37.50 in July 2020.
It has a turnover of Sh8,147,385,733 up from Sh7,274,677,448 in the year 2019-20. The net asset position of the society was Sh2.59 billion compared to Sh2.56 billion in June 2020.
The issued and paid up share capital of the society increased during the year from Sh551.8 million to Sh569.4 million.
A final dividend of Sh1.12 per share amounting to a Sh31,890,193 was proposed up from Sh30,905,108 which was proposed in the previous year.
Kinuthia told members that the society has pending court cases which they are claiming their money from different supermarkets where Uchumi is yet to pay Sh44.5 million even after the court ruled that the supermarket pays 30 per cent of the debt.
Nakumatt on the other hand owes Sh45 million. Naks superstores limited owes Sh16.9 million. Saltes supermarkets owes Sh18.6 million and Tuskys supermarket owes Sh68 million.
“We call upon the government to help suppliers by reviewing laws governing supermarkets which requires suppliers to supply commodities for over one month before being paid. When supermarkets collapse, the suppliers suffer since they don't get paid,” Kinuthia said.
He said the co-operative society is diversifying its operations to cushion farmers from skyrocketing cost of power, petroleum and raw materials.
"Currently, the cost of production has reached an all-time high with power bills hitting Sh7 million monthly. This is besides the high price of diesel and petrol which has made things tough for farmers," the chairman said.
The price of animal feeds, he added, has also affected farmers’ incomes with inputs like dairy meal retailing at Sh2,500 a bag currently up from Sh1,800.
Kinuthia said in order to improve farmers' earnings and cut production costs, his management has embarked on various ventures including construction of an animal feed factory and installation of solar panels among others.
-Edited by SKanyara