Milk deliveries to Brookside earn Murang’a farmers Sh250m

Milk processor Brookside paid Sh250 million to Murang’a dairy farmers last year, a 10 per cent jump in their earnings from the previous year.

Brookside’s director of milk procurement John Gethi said the company partnered with the Murang’a County government to collect raw milk from farmers.

The county government, through the Murang’a County Creameries, collects milk from farmers, chills it at Brookside’s cooling stations at Maragua in Murang’a and Othaya in the neighbouring Nyeri County.

Key driver of economies

“Dairy is clearly becoming the leading generator of family income in Murang’a County. We have responded to this reality by partnering with the county government in raw milk collection, we have also set up milk collection booths at Kahuro, Murarandia, Kagunduini, Gitiani and Karangi centres where farmers can deliver their milk,” said Mr Gethi.

“The county government of Murang’a has worked hard to position dairy as a key driver of rural economies. We intend to retain our position as the preferred market for farmers’ milk in the area.”

Brookside’s sustained campaign to have contracted farmers adopt modern herd management methods had led to growth in raw milk supply, he said.

Training has had an impact

“The increase in earnings shows that our dairy training courses have had an impact on production volumes. We intend to increase the number of training courses so that more dairy farmers benefit from knowledge on animal husbandry,” said Mr Gethi.

Brookside has set up a demonstration farm in Maragua where farmers learn best practices in dairy production.

About 160,000 farmers countrywide supply the firm with milk.

The firm increased raw milk prices by Sh2 last month to Sh40 for each kilo delivered.

Brookside, he said, will continue encouraging clean milk production to ensure that the product bought from farmers for processing is free of inhibitors and contamination.

He also urged farmers to control livestock diseases by regular vaccination, especially of infectious diseases such as mastitis, which he said lowers milk production in sick animals.