Kenya's Brookside records 20pc growth in number of raw milk suppliers as more farmers join dairy

Brookside's General Manager John Gethi      [ PHOTO  BY STANDARD]

Kenya: Milk processor Brookside has registered a growth of 20 per cent in raw milk supplier numbers over the past three months, as more farmers turn to dairy as a generator of family income.

General Manager in charge of milk procurement and extension services, John Gethi, said new incentives targeting dairy producers, including provision of dairy equipment to farmers and assured payments for milk delivered, had seen the processor's farmer numbers grow to nearly 160,000 countrywide.

"We are seeing more and more farmers ditch other agricultural undertakings for dairy, and in the near future, the enterprise will contribute more than the current 8 per cent of the national GDP," Gethi (pictured), said yesterday at the firm's Ruiru offices during a ceremony to award farmers who won prizes at a recent promotion organised by the firm.

He said the company had rolled out an elaborate partnership with farmers geared towards making dairy a profitable commercial enterprise for farmers. "Currently, a majority of smallholder farmers still practice dairy for subsistence reasons. We intend to transform the enterprise into a fully commercial undertaking that is capable of sustaining family incomes," he said.

Gethi said last year's commissioning of a dry milk plant at Brookside's Ruiru headquarters had seen the company's daily raw milk intake increase to over 1.5 million litres per day, making the processor one of the largest in Africa.

He said Brookside would continue to invest in farmers' training to stem post-harvest losses of milk at the farm level and improve quality of produce sold to processors.

He said there was need for intervention by industry stakeholders to reduce or eliminate losses on raw milk occasioned by poor handling during milking and transportation to collection points.

"We want to empower our contracted farmers on clean milk production skills to ensure that produce delivered to the us is free from inhibitors like antibiotic residues and solid material," Gethi said.