Sh600m Eldoret semen plant to lift dairy ventures

Dairy farmers are set to double milk yields after government announced plans to put up Sh600 million embryo transfer facility in Eldoret.

The Kenya Animal Genetic Resource Centre (KAGRIC), which is spearheading the project, said this is part of government plans to transform the dairy sector.

“Through the plant will enable farmers get quality and superior semen which means better breeds. A single cow will have the potential to produce over 70 litres in a day,” said Dr David Kios, KAGRIC Managing Director, revealed, when he distributed AI kit to a group of farmers in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County.

The MD noted that in the national budget, Treasury allocated Sh600m towards the project and the agency had already identifieda parcel of land to set up the plant. The project is expected to start this month.

He observed that the country is seeking to improve milk productivity to meet demand in local and regional markets.

“Kenya is number two milk producer in Africa after South Africa. In general, we have deficiencies in West African countries like DRC and Nigeria, which rely on imports from Europe. But if we are to improve livelihoods in Africa, we need to produce more milk which can be achieved through artificial insemination,” added Dr Kios, noting that Kenya stares at milk deficits due to growing population if no interventions are made.

According to the Kenya Dairy board, milk industry regulator, the country’s annual milk production stands at 5.2 billion litres. The industry regulator further indicates that by 2030, the country requirement will stand at 12 billion litres. This means there is need for annual increase of an estimated 600 million litre.

The milk production remains low, standing at seven litres per cow per day due to overreliance on rain-fed and poor breeds.

“Most farmers have large herd but produce little milk output. We want our farmers to reduce the number of stocks and keep superior breeds that produce more milk,” noted Dr Kios.

He disclosed that the agency had completed construction of a laboratory that will be opened in October to boost goat dairy farming.

“With the shrinking land, more farmers are embracing dairy goat farming. The laboratory will ensure that quality semen where a single goat has the potential to produce over seven litres,” said the official, noting that the project targets to benefit youth and women.

Margaret Kibogy, dairy board managing director, recently said that the government is keen to introduce quality-based payment model in milk pricing in order to motivate farmers to improve productivity and enable the country to meet growing demand for diversified dairy products.

“We want to see constant production so that farmers are able to plan and utilise various processing facilities which currently stands at 42 per cent,” she added.

National Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Silas Tiren called for review of policies to protect farmers.

“We need policies that will enable our farmers lower cost of production. We are working to introduce policy to determine the amount of maize to be imported from East African Community to protect local maize farmers,” said Mr Tiren, the Moiben lawmaker.