Dairy farmers in Kakamega hope construction of a Sh110 million milk processing plant by the county government will improve their livelihoods.
Completion is expected in 2022. Then, it's hoped, there will be no more crying over spoilt milk.
Meantime, smart farms, new collecting and marketng structures, artificial insemination and other measures are being developed in readiness for the plant.
The project, which was launched last week, will also encourage residents to shift their focus from the ailing sugar cane sector and create jobs.
The plant will process fresh milk, fermented milk products and Ultra Heat Treated (UHT) milk through a single line of 50,000 litres capacity, eventually expanded to four active lines.
The project will create jobs for residents both directly and indirectly, provide a ready market and income for farmers, besides boosting the county's economy.
The inception of the project followed recommendations by a task force appointed by Governor Wycliffe Oparanya in 2014. Its mission was to study the dairy and livestock sector and come up with a way to develop them.
Farmers have shared challenges and successes and are upbeat that they will soon be out of the woods.
MILK SHORTAGE
County government records show that 200,000 dairy animals are raised in 50,000 households, particularly in Lugari, Likuyani and Malava subcounties.
Farmers produce an average of 250,000 litres of milk per day. Of these, 115 litres are consumed in households and 135 litres are for the market.
However, the county still faces a shortage of milk to meet its demand due to a lack of proper market infrastructure. It relies on milk from neighbouring Nandi county to close the deficit.
Commissioning of the milk processing plant last week is part of the effort to diversify from sugar cane farming, which is faltering.
Kakamega has relied on sugar cane since 1972. The crop is no longer lucrative after Mumias Sugar Company ran into financial problems and has remained shut for more than a year.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel now. Our biggest problem is how to market our milk, and we're now sure it will end soon," said Evans Anyika of EVAM Farm in Bushiangala, Ikolomani subcounty.
"For example, on Sunday 1,000 litres of milk got spoiled in our co-operative in Musoli because there was no power, and they had no money to buy fuel to run the generator. I had supplied 100 litres," he said.
Anyika said that though the county does not produce enough milk to meet its demands, farmers lack the capacity to move the milk to other areas in need and are forced to vend their milk in their localities. Anyika has 30 cows, which produce 260 litres daily.
COLLAPSING CANE SECTOR
He says the return of milk from roadside sale points in rural areas gives an impression of excess milk in the county, although the actual situation is the lack of proper marketing strategies.
Farmer Elly Mukolwe from Butere says the plant will encourage more residents to venture into dairy farming, given that the sugarcane sector faces collapse.
"Dairy farming has helped me educate my children, but not without challenges. A lot of the milk we produce goes to waste. The project will help us in mobilising the milk for bulk selling and save us losses," he said.
Mukolwe said he will be able to expand his stock from the current three animals because the market for milk will be available soon.
In 2015 the county government started developing the dairy industry by distributing dairy cows to selected farmers under its One-Cow Initiative. Some 1,310 in-calf heifers have since been given to farmers and 700 heifers have been given to other farmers.
The programme also involved subsidised artificial insemination to help farmers upgrade their breeds and increase milk production in readiness for the plant. Farmers are charged Sh700 for the service instead of Sh1,500.
SMART FARMS
The strategy is expected to substantially boost milk production in the county in readiness for the expected high demand once the dairy processing plant becomes operational.
“This initiative will be supplemented by smart farms that my government has put up targeting all the 12 subcounties, with nearly 6,000 litres of milk being produced daily by the farms acing as the nucleus of the dairy plant,” Oparanya said. He was presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony for the plant in Malava.
Individual farmers and 30 existing dairy cooperatives across the county will be the main suppliers of milk to the factory. The cooperatives have 24 coolers that will be used to bulk milk on agreed collection routes.
Nationally, the dairy industry contributes 14 per cent of the agricultural Gross Domestic Product with an annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent. The sector accounts for six to eight per cent of the country’s GDP and nearly 500,000 people are in direct employment and another 750,000 jobs in support services.
Mary Muhatia from Shinyalu has 10 cows and says she was contemplating quitting the business because it was no longer viable as one could hardly recoup what is put in terms of feed, treatment and labour.
“As much as the county does not produce enough milk, the few of us who produce find it difficult to reach those who want the product, but we hope the county will now end our problems,” she says.
The task force report found that most of the milk produced in the county is sold either through hawking or milk bars.
The report identified poor management and inadequate feeding of the animals by farmers, poor breeding practices, farmer groups and marketing of the product as the main challenges facing the dairy sector.
The report recommended that the county government organises farmers into common interest groups and strengthens existing ones as an important component for collective bargaining. It also calls for innovations.
It also recommended that the county government, an investor, and the farmer enter into a partnership to increase milk pick up points that will merge into collection centres and form business hubs to handle large volumes.
(Edited by V. Graham)
