By John Majau
Milk production in the Mt Kenya region has dropped by about 40 per cent due to drought even as dairy farmers complain about high costs of production.
Farmers called for subsidies on animal feeds to be introduced, though President William Ruto’s new administration insisted that subsidies were unsustainable, scrapping the one on fuel and maize flour.
Processors said they had to increase farm-gate prices due to low supply of milk as demand for it soared, with farmers now being paid Ksh53 a litre.
Meru Highlands Dairy CEO Justus Nguu said production was low due to lack of feeds whose prices rose remarkably over the past six months.
“The drought situation is serious because farmers cannot get enough feed for their animals and the increased fuel cost is bound to worsen the situation,” Mr Nguu said.
Fuel prices have skyrocketed with a litre of petrol hitting a historic high of Ksh179.30 in new prices announced by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) while diesel is retailing at Ksh165.
Mr Gilbert Naivasha, a dairy farmer in Timau in Buuri Sub-county said that while he got over 200 litres six months ago, he now delivers only 130 litres, a drop of over 40 per cent.
He cited the high cost of animal feeds and supplements, saying cows were not getting adequate feeds.
“Dairy societies are reeling from high fuel costs because they use pickup trucks and motorcycles to deliver raw milk to processors,” said Douglas Mutugi, chairman of the Nkandone Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society.
He said societies faced high costs of production and lamented that the new fuel prices were likely to spell doom for the sector.
“Even with the old prices, the cost of fuelling our one pickup and two motorbikes had risen to Ksh56,000, up from an average of Ksh25,000 per month,” he said.
“With a membership of 400, we are now delivering to the processor 1,300 litres of milk daily, down from 1,800 four months ago,” he added.
He said the prices of feeds had also increased from an average of Ksh2,600 to Ksh3,000 for a 50kg bag of various brands of feeds.
Consumers have also been hit by the high prices with the main processor in Meru, the Meru Dairy Cooperative Union, now selling a litre of unpackaged milk at Ksh75 while half a litre retails at Ksh53 up from Ksh50.
Milk production in Mt Kenya hard hit by drought
By John Majau
Milk production in the Mt Kenya region has dropped by about 40 per cent due to drought even as dairy farmers complain about high costs of production.
Farmers called for subsidies on animal feeds to be introduced, though President William Ruto’s new administration insisted that subsidies were unsustainable, scrapping the one on fuel and maize flour.
Processors said they had to increase farm-gate prices due to low supply of milk as demand for it soared, with farmers now being paid Ksh53 a litre.
Meru Highlands Dairy CEO Justus Nguu said production was low due to lack of feeds whose prices rose remarkably over the past six months.
“The drought situation is serious because farmers cannot get enough feed for their animals and the increased fuel cost is bound to worsen the situation,” Mr Nguu said.
Fuel prices have skyrocketed with a litre of petrol hitting a historic high of Ksh179.30 in new prices announced by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) while diesel is retailing at Ksh165.
Mr Gilbert Naivasha, a dairy farmer in Timau in Buuri Sub-county said that while he got over 200 litres six months ago, he now delivers only 130 litres, a drop of over 40 per cent.
He cited the high cost of animal feeds and supplements, saying cows were not getting adequate feeds.
“Dairy societies are reeling from high fuel costs because they use pickup trucks and motorcycles to deliver raw milk to processors,” said Douglas Mutugi, chairman of the Nkandone Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society.
He said societies faced high costs of production and lamented that the new fuel prices were likely to spell doom for the sector.
“Even with the old prices, the cost of fuelling our one pickup and two motorbikes had risen to Ksh56,000, up from an average of Ksh25,000 per month,” he said.
“With a membership of 400, we are now delivering to the processor 1,300 litres of milk daily, down from 1,800 four months ago,” he added.
He said the prices of feeds had also increased from an average of Ksh2,600 to Ksh3,000 for a 50kg bag of various brands of feeds.
Consumers have also been hit by the high prices with the main processor in Meru, the Meru Dairy Cooperative Union, now selling a litre of unpackaged milk at Ksh75 while half a litre retails at Ksh53 up from Ksh50.
