Apart from making money selling raw milk, the farmer produces yoghurt, ice sticks and cheese from the milk he gets at his small farm dubbed Toggfarm in Huruma, Mathare Sub-county, Nairobi.
When starting off, he bought three dairy goats; a buck of Toggenburg breed at Sh12,000, a doe at Sh8,000, and another one at Sh25,000.
The farmer currently has 27 goats, out of which he milks six. Additionally, he has 10 newly born kids.
Kevin Uduny has been rearing dairy goats for some time now and he is looking forward to reaping bigger from the business.
Apart from making money selling raw milk, the farmer produces yoghurt, ice sticks and cheese from the milk he gets at his small farm dubbed Toggfarm in Huruma, Mathare Sub-county, Nairobi.
“I started the venture in 2013 with two goats I bought for Sh3,000, each from Kiamaiko slaughterhouse,” says Mr Uduny who is also a member of Huruma Town Youth Group which engages in diverse income-generating activities.
“I lost my parents at an early age because they could not afford food supplements as prescribed by the doctor. The other affordable option was goat milk that was not available at the time,” he says.
“I decided that one day I would provide a solution to this problem.”
It is a dream that later came to reality.
When starting off, he bought three dairy goats; a buck of Toggenburg breed at Sh12,000, a doe at Sh8,000, and another one at Sh25,000. All of them were bought from Dagoretti through a livestock officer.
The business is now on a firm footing as money is coming in.
He sells raw milk at prices ranging from Sh150 to Sh300 per litre. Yoghurt goes for between Sh300 and Sh350 per half a litre, he sells cheese at Sh200-Sh250 per 100g.
Kevin Uduny showcases some of the products from his goat milk at Toggfarm in Mathare, Nairobi. PHOTO | PETER CHANGTOEK | NMG
“We sell to both local and upper markets,” adds Mr Uduny.
The farmer currently has 27 goats, out of which he milks six. Additionally, he has 10 newly born kids.
“I get eight litres of milk per day now, but the graph will go up since after delivery it starts low then rises with time,” explains the farmer, who keeps Alpine, Saanen and Toggenburg breeds.
He feeds the goats with remains of food that he collects from the market, as well as hay, leaves of neem (mwarubaini) tree and dairy meal as a supplement.
“Dairy goat farming is easy to manage, unlike cows, since it requires less space and feeding. Its milk is highly nutritious compared to other dairy products as well,” says Mr Uduny.
Some of the challenges he faces include the high cost of commercial feeds, diseases, space limitation and high cost of veterinary services. Diseases that affect dairy goats include pink eye, mastitis, pneumonia and tetanus.
The city farmer also keeps poultry and grows vegetables such as spinach, all carried out on less than an eighth of an acre land.
The Huruma Town Youth Group in which Mr Uduny is a member, keeps poultry (indigenous chicken), doves, ducks, and also do horticulture, and table banking.
Mr Uduny has a big dream for his venture: “My future plan is to one day own a parcel of land, to be able to expand and do more farming activities and processing, get sustainable income and employ more young people. ”
