Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said that the government will clear arrears owed to dairy farmers supplying milk to the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC). Speaking on Friday, March 1, 2024 at the ‘Embu County Livestock, Dairy, and Fisheries Exhibition’ in Manyatta, Embu, Gachagua assured farmers that the pending payments would be settled by next week, stating, “We have an obligation to support the farmers.”
Gachagua revealed plans to explore international milk markets for exporting at least one billion liters of milk annually, as part of the government’s efforts to implement the Bottom-Up economic model. The aim is to double milk production from the current 5.2 billion liters to 10 billion liters by 2027, with a focus on bolstering small-scale entrepreneurs and the rural economy.
Starting this month, dairy farmers will earn Sh50 per liter of milk supplied to the New KCC, with over Sh5 billion invested in modernizing the facility. The government is also establishing support systems like milk coolers to reduce post-harvest losses, which currently amount to about 270 million liters annually.
