Dairy farmers contracted by Brookside Dairy have a reason to smile after the milk processor announced a cash bonus payout of over Sh142 million.
The payout, under a reward scheme operated by the firm, will benefit dairy groups and individual farmers across the country who signed up for the programme and have been supplying raw milk to the milk processor in the six-month period between December 1, 2022 and May 31 this year.
Brookside general manager for milk procurement Emmanuel Kabaki said the farmers were rewarded for meeting agreed milk supply targets in both quantity and quality.
“The beneficiary farmer groups and individual suppliers signed up for our reward scheme and were given raw milk supply targets for both quantity and quality. We are rewarding these farmers as a recognition of their toil over the six-month period,” Kabaki said in a statement issued in Nakuru.
The farmer reward scheme was pioneered by Brookside five years ago as it sought to appreciate the critical role raw milk suppliers play in the upstream phase of the dairy value chain.
He said the payout has been appreciating over the years, as the processor’s base of contracted farmers continues to grow.
"The reward further cements our excellent working relationship with all our 160,000 raw milk suppliers across the country. The reward scheme has boosted the supply of high-quality milk, thus enabling us to tap into a larger share of high-value products,” Kabaki said.
Over time, the volumes and quality of milk supplied to the processor has continually grown with this year’s intake rising by 27 per cent over volumes supplied at a similar period last year on better dairy practices by farmers.
The growth in milk volumes is also attributed to an aggressive farmer empowerment programme by the processor.
This year alone, more than 6,000 dairy farmers have benefited from Brookside’s extension services, which include field day trainings and the use of demonstration farms to showcase best practice in the dairy enterprise.
The firm has also been working to improve corporate governance ethos in its milk supply groups, by training dairy co-operative officials on best management practices.
"The attribute of quality, for which our dairy products are known cannot be achieved without the involvement of our farmers in the production and supply of quality raw milk,” Kabaki said.
He urged farmers to prioritise initiatives that encourage growth of milk production such as investment in year-long availability of fodder and water for dairy animals.
According to a milk hygiene guide by the Kenya Dairy Board, poor hygiene introduces bacteria that causes the milk to get spoilt very quickly.
The board says some unscrupulous milk suppliers adulterate milk by adding water or solids to increase the volume or to make it look thicker.
"Addition of anything to milk can introduce bacteria that will make it spoil quickly. Adulteration of milk is also illegal. The lactometer test is used to determine if the milk has been adulterated with added water or solids," it says.
According to quality assurance guide for farmers, raw milk should be produced under conditions that minimise contamination from the animal, environment, personnel, feeds, equipment and related facilities.
The guide was developed by the Smallholder Dairy Commercialisation Programme (SDCP) which is a joint development project between the Government of Kenya and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The guide states that the milking personnel should observe good personal hygiene that minimises the likelihood of contaminating the milk.
"They should be free from communicable diseases and medically certified. The milkers should undergo some basic training on hygiene milking," the guide says.
It says that raw milk should have a characteristic creamy–white colour, free from off flavors and taints, should be free of objectionable matter and should not coagulate on the clot on boiling test.
The guide further says that it should test negative to the alcohol test and hydrogen peroxide.
"All dairy farms producing milk for sale are required to be registered and issued with a registration certificate and licence where applicable such as the Food Hygiene License by Public Health Department and Primary Produce License by Kenya Dairy Board," it indicates.