- Government has delivered five 2,000 litre milk coolers to Nandi dairy cooperatives.
- The coolers will reduce milk spoilage, improve quality and boost farmers’ earnings.
- Officials urged cooperatives to maintain the equipment and uphold hygiene standards.
The State Department for Livestock Development has delivered five 2000 litre capacity milk coolers to farmers in Nandi, a move expected to significantly strengthen the dairy sector by minimising post harvest losses, enhancing milk quality and increasing farmers’ earnings from their produce.
The milk coolers, distributed to dairy cooperatives under the Livestock Value Chain Support Project (LVCSP), are expected to strengthen collective milk collection and aggregation. They will provide farmers with reliable facilities for storing milk at suitable temperatures before transportation to processors and other markets.
For smallholder farmers, the initiative represents a shift from focusing solely on increasing milk production to ensuring that more of the milk produced reaches markets while still in good condition.
Director of Livestock Development at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Dr Bashar Elmi, emphasised the need for investment in infrastructure that supports farmers across the livestock value chain.
He said increased milk production would not necessarily translate into higher incomes if farmers continued losing their produce due to inadequate storage and transportation facilities.
“The new coolers are expected to help address one of the persistent challenges facing dairy farmers, milk spoilage between milking and delivery to the market,” he said.
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Dr Elmi noted that limited cooling facilities often force rural farmers to rely on quick milk collection, with delays leading to low prices or spoilage. He said placing coolers under cooperatives would strengthen collective marketing, improve milk aggregation, facilitate bulk transportation and enhance farmers’ efficiency and bargaining power with processors and other buyers.
Nandi County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Dr Kiplimo Lagat, also emphasised the need to strengthen farmer organisations and invest in infrastructure that enables producers to earn better returns from their enterprises.
Dr Lagat said the county government had continued supporting livestock development initiatives, including breeding services, farmer extension programmes and cooperative development. He said the milk coolers would complement these measures by addressing challenges at the post production stage of the dairy value chain.
The CECM noted that the intervention could become increasingly important as farmers seek to raise milk production.
“When farmers are confident that their produce can be safely preserved and marketed, they have a stronger incentive to invest in improved breeds, quality feeds, better animal husbandry, and larger dairy enterprises,” he stated.
Dr Lagat added that proper cooling would preserve milk quality, urging cooperatives to maintain equipment, reliable power, hygiene and transparent payments, and farmers to uphold cleanliness standards.
“The coolers should be viewed as more than pieces of equipment. They are an investment in strengthening the entire dairy value chain, from the farmer and cooperative to the processor and consumer,” he said.
By Bernard Magada
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