Kenyan government announces nationwide crackdown on milk hawking

KENYA – Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has announced a nationwide crackdown on milk hawking, warning that the unregulated sale of raw milk poses a growing public health risk and continues to weaken Kenya’s formal dairy sector.

Speaking in Nairobi during the flagging off of bulk milk coolers for dairy cooperatives, Kagwe said the government would move aggressively to streamline milk distribution and strengthen traceability systems in the country’s dairy value chain.

“Milk hawking must stop. It is dangerous, it is a health issue and it destroys the ability to create value-added dairy products,” he said.

The CS warned that millions of Kenyans continue to consume milk sold through informal channels that cannot easily be traced, tested or verified for safety standards.

According to the ministry, milk sold directly by brokers and hawkers often bypasses cooling, inspection and quality assurance systems, exposing consumers to possible contamination and disease outbreaks.

Kagwe particularly warned families with young children against consuming milk from unregulated sources.

The government stated that the dominance of brokers and hawkers has undermined dairy cooperatives, frustrated processors and denied farmers opportunities to benefit from value-added dairy products such as yoghurt, cheese and milk powder.

Under the reforms, processors and cooperatives will now be expected to strengthen traceability systems by identifying farmers, their production levels and the source of every litre supplied to the market.

The government believes this will not only improve food safety but also dismantle the dominance of middlemen who buy and resell raw milk without quality checks.

The crackdown comes as the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development continues with the distribution of 230 milk coolers countrywide worth US$11.03 million (KES 1.43 billion) dairy support programme.

The ministry says the coolers are meant to reduce spoilage, stabilize prices and draw farmers away from hawkers toward organized collection systems.

Already, 95 coolers have been deployed, with the remaining units expected to reach dairy cooperatives across the country in phases.

The ministry is additionally scaling up access to subsidised sexed semen to improve dairy genetics and increase the number of high-yield cows in the country.

According to the CS, the subsidy programme has reduced the cost of sexed semen from US$69.61 (KES9000) to about US$ 7.73 (KES1000).

Kagwe also criticised poor livestock management practices in some areas, saying some farmers keep cows in overcrowded and unsuitable conditions that negatively affect productivity and animal welfare.

The government says the wider dairy reforms are intended to improve milk quality, strengthen formal market systems and ensure farmers earn more from dairy production while protecting consumers from unsafe products.

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