Former sugarcane growers find profit in dairy farming

A milk technician, Rachel Were, arrives at Shianda Trading Centre as early as 6.30am to test the quality of raw milk brought in by farmers and record the amount.

The volumes have been rising over the months and with 300 litres collected every day, the farmers under East Wanga Zero Grazing Self Help Group are counting their gains.

The group sells raw and pasteurised and fermented milk at the new collection centre.  A litre of fresh milk is sold at Sh60 while the same quantity of fermented milk costs Sh100.

Members earn their dues every week. The highest paid farmer takes home at least Sh5,000 a week and the lowest Sh2,000.

“Each farmer is paid based on the amount of milk supplied in seven days,” said Francis Salasya, a farmer.

Dairy farming has changed the fortunes of many residents who have abandoned sugarcane farming.

The group chairman Andrew Okumu said the shift to dairy farming has boosted farmers’ earnings and will help reclaim soil fertility following decades of sugarcane growing that has depleted soils in the area.     

The farmers are looking to increase volumes of milk to boost their earnings.

A recent donation of 50 dairy cows to women and youth groups in Malaha and Isongo villages by Western Kenya Community Driven and Flood Mitigation Project has renewed the group’s hope of attaining increased volumes of milk of up to 10,000 litres of milk per day.

Mumias East Constituency CDF kitty purchased land for the group where a mini-processing plant for milk will be built. 

The group will also receive a Sh8 million coolant equipment donated by the World Bank by August. “The delivery of the coolant machine was delayed and we expect it in August,” said the group technical director Simon Wesechele.  The coolant has the capacity to hold up to 10,000 litres of milk.

Mr Okumu says the volumes of milk collected currently is low, contributing to low profits. “Our profit margin is low,” he said.

The farmers say the high cost of animal feeds eats into their profits. Priscah Makokha, a farmer said feeding the animals remains a major challenge since the dairy feeds are expensive. 

“Farmers have to been trained on how they can make feeds from locally available materials such as sugarcane leaves,” said the group technical director Mr Wesechele. 

Mr Okumu said their focus is to become the biggest milk producer in Kakamega County.

“We expect to diversity our product base and give small scale dairy farmers an opportunity to grow their businesses,” he said.

The area MP Benjamin Washiali said if the farmers remain focused, they will reduce poverty in the area using the project.

The county government has donated a motorcycle to the group to assist members access quality artificial insemination services.

Plans are underway to transform the self-help group into a cooperative society.  Mr Okumu said farmers could realise more profits from a cooperative society.

“Members will be able to pay school fees and borrow money to expand their ventures,” he said.

To join the self-help group, one must be a dairy farmer with at least two cows and pay a membership fee of Sh1,000 and an extra Sh2,000 savings.  Independent groups can register with Sh3,000 and pay an extra Sh20,000.

“We decided to open membership to individual farmers and other groups so that we can achieve the financial muscle desired to move the project forward,” said Mr Wesechele.