Embu dairy farmers seek control of New KCC Runyenjes factory

KENYA – Dairy farmers in Embu County have appealed to the National Government to hand over control of the underutilised New KCC Runyenjes Factory to local dairy farmers.

They argued that placing ownership of the multi-million dollar facilities under farmers would boost production, processing and value addition, thus increasing farmers’ earnings and boosting the local economy.

The farmers also added that currently, milk farmers in the county are feeling the pinch for selling raw milk to external processors at low prices due to lack of bargaining power that could be reversed if they got control of the plant where they can process milk locally.

The farmers also added that currently, milk farmers in the county are feeling the pinch for selling raw milk to external processors at low prices due to lack of bargaining power that could be reversed if they got control of the plant where they can process milk locally.

“We have assessed the KCC Plant which is a bulking centre, and in principle, it is extremely underutilised and not helping farmers much and our feeling is that the facility is given to farmers,” said Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) Chair Genesio Mugo.

He said the plant had not met the objective the government intended of reducing post-harvest losses within the county and the only way to turn around farmers’ fortunes was to have it under their control.

“With proper utilization and value addition, milk farmers will stop talking about poor farm gate prices because they will be able to process and sell value-added milk,” he said.

Joseph Choge takes helm at New KCC amid financial turmoil

Recently, New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC) appointed Joseph Choge as its new Managing Director, ushering in a leadership transition at one of Kenya’s largest state-owned dairy processors.

In an interview, Choge acknowledged the scale of the challenge ahead, citing the need to stabilize operations, revamp infrastructure, and steer the company toward profitability.

“I want to familiarise myself with what is going on in the company and come up with a plan on how to revamp the firm, but all these require time,” he said.

New KCC currently owes farmers and suppliers over KSh 300 million, including more than KSh 184 million in delayed payments to dairy farmers.

The Kenya Dairy Farmers Federation (KDFF) has raised an alarm over the backlog, warning that delayed payments have discouraged milk deliveries despite New KCC offering higher farm-gate prices than private processors.

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