Tough regulation: Dairy farmers foresee turbulent times ahead

Timothy Kinuthia is a worried man. A dairy farmer for the last 15 years, the venture has been his source of livelihood.

The source of his worry is the recently suspended Kenya Dairy Board Regulations 2019, which he fears may be revived any time soon.

He does not belong to any cooperative and has been selling his milk to individual buyers for close to a decade.

“I cannot sell directly to a processor. The new regulation is seeking to criminalise the selling of milk to middle men. Where are we supposed to take our milk?” he quipped.

Kinuthia faults the regulations as colonial and an attempt to destroy the only sector that farmers rely on for daily sustenance.

Considering that 70 per cent of the dairy sector is informal with only 30 per cent supplying their to the processors, the move would have been disastrous to Kinuthia.

Kinuthia said the proposed penalties were outrageous and would see most farmers ending up in jail.

He called for consultations on the regulations with the farmers before they are effected. “We support the need to maintain the highest standard of health and quality of milk produced, but not all farmers can afford to buy pasteurisers or coolers to use in their farms,” Kinuthia observed.

Ephantus Gichohi from Gakindu, Mukurweini, wondered why the government was trying to introduce punitive legislations in a liberalised economy where one has the right to chose who to sell their goods to.

“In my view, these regulations are not applicable in the modern day market which is liberalised,” he said.

He said the regulations did not undergo public participation, and would have punished farmers.

Suffering lot

Gichohi further observed that the farmers were currently suffering as the cost of producing one litre of milk is Sh 34, yet most processors pay Sh 32.

Peter Njoroge, a dairy farmer from Mukurweini, questioned the government’s motive. He said the State should act in the interest of farmers.

“As farmers, we are angry because these regulations are seeking to empower the processors who will determine prices at the expense of the producers,” he said. However, Muhika Mutahi, the founder of Wakulima Dairy, said that while the Kenya Dairy Board had good intentions, the move would have not been successful.

This, in his opinion, was because it was affecting a larger section of the dairy sector who carry out their activities informally.

“We operate in a liberalised market and therefore it would not have received the support of the legislators and farmers,” he said.

Mr Mutahi said the regulations were in favour of the consumers by ensuring that the milk in the market was safe for consumption.

“There is a health aspect to the regulations, it would be in the best interest of each consumer if the milk consumed was pasteurised because milk is prone to contamination. However, the regulations were misconstrued as an attempt to control the milk prices,” Mutahi stated.

Even as the regulations were suspended after a public outcry, farmers are still grappling with low milk prices.

“Wakulima Dairy has noted an increase in production from our farmers by up to to 15 per cent but farmers are not happy with the prices,” he said.

According to New KCC chairman Matu Wamae, processors were having a hard time competing with cheap Ugandan milk which have flooded the market for a while.

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