Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at accelerating inclusive growth, innovation, and sustainability in the dairy sector.
The MoU will provide a framework for cooperation to work from ‘farm to glass’ to improve dairy production, processing, and consumer awareness.
Further, the partnership seeks to bring together ILRI research and KDB regulatory and sectoral leadership to unlock new opportunities for smallholder farmers, processors, and consumers.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at ILRI, Director General Apollinaire Djikeng said they offer innovations and technologies around animal health and to sure that the dairy sector is also sustainable when it comes to climate change and environmental sustainability.
“We want to ensure that the genetic improvement we bring is accounted for on challenges such as the heat stress and disease incidents during production systems, as well as capacity building, by ensuring we train people not only within these two institutions but beyond,” he added.
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He said, that the partnership will bridge critical gaps, strengthening the dairy value chain, improving milk safety and quality standards, and scaling innovations that enhance productivity and resilience among smallholder farmers.
The Director acknowledged the Gates Foundation and the UK government through the Foreign Commonwealth Development Organization, for funding the project ‘MoreMilk 2’ that will not only enhance dairy farmers’ capacity to produce high-quality milk and improve milk handling and safety, but also facilitate access to safe milk markets.
Dr. Kimutai Maritim, Kenya Dairy Board Acting Managing Director, said the MoreMilk 2 project is a great example of collaboration between KDB and ILRI and aligns with their mandate and core function to regulate, promote, and develop Kenya’s dairy industry.
“This MOU strengthens our ability to deliver on that promise with innovation, integrity, and impact. Such collaboration would not only support livelihoods and nutrition but also help Kenya meet its ambitious goal of doubling milk consumption by 2030, ensuring that growth is inclusive, sustainable, and driven by evidence-based solutions,” he added.
He explained that the project builds on the success of the MoreMilk 1 project research, which started in an informal settlement in Eldoret, on how informal milk markets can improve nutrition and health in peri-urban settings.
“This project, which has now been upscaled to ‘MoreMilk 2,’ is covering three counties, namely, Nakuru, Nyandarua, and Uasin Gishu. From the three, we anticipate that the informal sector will transform into an actual formal milk trade, where we have had a challenge as a regulator on how to get the informal sector to be more formal,” Dr. Maritim said.
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The government agenda, he noted, is focusing on reducing production and doing more value addition and thus the project envisages assisting in transforming the dairy sector by pulling out the informal sector into a more formal one, meaning more milk accessing markets, value in terms of quality of milk and also safety since it will now be formalized and trade will become formal.
Government is targeting to double production of milk from 2 billion litres to 10 billion and this, Dr. Maritim said, is a huge leap and therefore the need for improved animal genetics that focuses on improving productivity.
The MD explained that the government is also focused on trying to improve the production of fodder through giving out to the private sector government control in terms of the production of more fodder.
“Through the waiver of some of the ingredients that are used in feed inputs and also the subsidized cost of sexed semen, which was going for Sh6,000 per dose but is currently retailing at Ksh1,000, all these will likely lead to increase the milk production in this country”.
Kenya’s dairy sector is the largest in East Africa, producing 5.33 billion liters, contributing about 4.5 percent of GDP, and over 12 percent to agricultural GDP.
With the highest per capita milk consumption, around 92 liters per person annually, demand is expected to rise further as the population grows.
By Juma Ndigo
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