Murang’a dairy farmers receive milk coolers worth US$679,600

KENYA – The Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Livestock Development, Jonathan Mueke, has announced that more than 18,000 dairy farmers in Murang’a County will benefit from 12 bulk milk coolers worth US$679,600 (KES 87.94 million).

The coolers, delivered to dairy cooperative societies in the county, have a combined capacity to handle more than 37,000 litres of milk produced daily.

Speaking during the handover ceremony at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) Seeds headquarters, he said the project would save dairy farmers an estimated Sh661.75 million annually in post-harvest milk losses and create about 296 direct employment opportunities.

The intervention comes amid an acute milk shortage in the country, which the PS attributed to inadequate rainfall over the past two months, among other factors.

According to the Kenya Dairy Board’s press release, formal milk deliveries to processors declined by 3.7% from 84.4 million litres in June 2026 to 81.3 million litres in July 2026.

He identified poor remuneration of farmers by dairy cooperatives as one of the major factors contributing to reduced milk production, saying low returns discourage farmers from investing in quality feeds, especially during dry seasons.

He added that the government had also made sexed semen technology available at the Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre (KAGRC) at Sh1,000, down from Sh8,000, as part of efforts to boost dairy production.

Mueke also urged livestock farmers to participate in the ongoing mass vaccination program to prevent a possible outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

The move follows the Kenyan government’s announcement of a US$11.02 million (KES1.428 billion) investment in dairy infrastructure to reduce production costs, cut milk losses, and improve farmers’ incomes, according to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.

In 2025, the government launched the installation of 230 bulk milk coolers, valued at Ksh1.45 billion (US$11.58 million), across 40 counties to boost the country’s dairy sector.

The dairy industry is a backbone of Kenya’s agricultural economy, contributing 4% to the GDP and supporting over 2 million people directly and indirectly. In 2024, Kenya produced an estimated 5.3 billion litres of milk, 80% of which came from smallholder farmers.

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