NYERI, Kenya – The Ministry of Agriculture has launched the nationwide distribution of milk cooling equipment in a renewed effort to reduce post-harvest losses, enhance milk quality, and increase farmer incomes across Kenya.
The Sh1.45 billion initiative—part of the Livestock Value Chain Support Project—targets the deployment of 230 milk coolers across 40 counties.
President William Ruto officially launched the programme in Meru County last month, as part of the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Thursday flagged off an additional batch of eight coolers in Nyeri County, following the successful delivery of the first 15 to farmer-owned cooperatives.
“Our goal is to support smallholder farmers to shift from subsistence to commercial farming,” said Kagwe. “The 230 milk coolers will expand Kenya’s national chilling capacity by 475,000 litres per day, improving milk quality and increasing market access.”
The dairy sector, which contributes around 4% to Kenya’s GDP and supports over two million people directly and indirectly, faces chronic challenges—chief among them being poor storage infrastructure.
Kenya currently loses an estimated 175 million litres of milk annually, valued at Sh7.9 billion, due to post-harvest inefficiencies.
Kagwe said the government will also invest in public and private milk processors to ensure that collected milk is processed efficiently, with a long-term view to increase exports.
In 2024, Kenya produced approximately 5.3 billion litres of milk—80% of which came from smallholder farmers.
The government now aims to double output to 10 billion litres by 2027, create 500,000 new jobs, and export 1 billion litres annually.
To achieve this, the Ministry plans to address key constraints in the dairy sector including limited access to quality breeding stock, poor feeding practices, livestock diseases, and the effects of climate change.
Kagwe added that the government will lease idle public land for large-scale cultivation of fodder and crops such as sunflower to lower the cost of animal feed.
A mass vaccination campaign and increased use of quality sexed semen are also part of the strategy to meet international standards for meat and dairy exports.
“We must adopt practical, scalable interventions to transform the dairy sector and realise our full potential,” Kagwe said.
