Brookside training doubles milk yield

Milk production per cow in parts of Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties has doubled over the past two years following a training plan backed by Brookside Dairy.

The farmers were trained in fodder preparation, including establishment of pasture fields, and good cow husbandry. The training project was initiated in October 2016 targeting more than 30,000 farmers in Western Kenya.

Official data show milk production per cow in the project area has on average increased from three kilos daily to six.

“The involvement of large processors in intensive training of farmers in better dairy cow husbandry has led to increased competitiveness of the dairy value chain in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties,” said Benson Naibei, the chairman of Kaptama Dairy Farmers Co-operative Society.

Brookside said milk deliveries from the cooperative has increased from a monthly average of 4,500 kilos to 45,000 kilos over the two years.

Brookside Dairy has partnered with Livelihoods Fund, a France-based investment solutions provider and Vi Agroforestry, a development organisation, in the project that seeks to increase the average milk production in the Mt Elgon catchment from 5,000 litres daily in 2016 to 135,000.

Brookside Dairy will provide a guaranteed market for the raw milk produced in the project area of Trans Nzoia and Bungoma and train farmers in dairy husbandry.

The project also seeks to attain food security in the two counties, by increasing crop yields by 30 per cent through sustainable land use.

“As a major player in the dairy industry, we will continue to provide a visible and regular market for all the raw milk produced in the Mt Elgon shed,” said John Gethi, Brookside Dairy’s director of milk procurement.

“In the past, inefficient farming methods deprived farmers of better income by reducing milk and crop yields. We want to create a shift through a series of training courses designed to help farmers to adopt sustainable methods of dairy production.”