Dairy Board commissions milk production survey

The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has partnered with Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy & Development of Egerton University to undertake a survey on the cost of milk production.

KDB Managing Director Margaret Rugut said the objective of the survey was to estimate the cost and profitability of milk production in Kenya and identify areas of intervention to manage the costs of milk production.

“The reason we are actually partnering with Tegemeo so that we know what is actually making the prices to continue going up, which are the areas that we need to look at so that we can bring down the cost of milk production in the dairy sector,” Mrs Rugut said.

The high prices of packed milk has pushed most households with little income into the hands of raw milk traders who charge less, despite being banned over safety concerns.

Some of the challenges facing dairy farming in the country include seasonality of production, poor and inefficient dairy practices, ageing dairy farmer and high cost of inputs among others.

The board has also pledged to support farmers at the farm gate in order to increase their returns in its bid to make dairy production a much more profitable venture.

“The government through the recent budget reading also removed the VAT component in the production of animal feeds. It is hoped that this will eventually reduce the cost of animal feeds and ultimately the cost of production at the farm level thus improving farmer earnings,” she said.

Dairy farming currently contributes 4.5% to the country’s GDP and is a source of livelihood for approximately 1.5 million small-holder households.

Report by Beatrice Eghwa

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production milk price Dairy Board

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