NYERI, Kenya, Jul 5 – The ministry of agriculture wants Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the parliamentary committee on trade to crack their whips on manfactures of substandard animal feeds in the country.
Speaking when he toured the Kenya Co-operative Creamaries kiganjo factory in Nyeri, Cabinet secretary incharge of agriculture Peter Munya said that dairy sector is doing badly due to influx of substandard animal feeds and concentrates on sale in the markert.
“At the moment, the dairy sector is not realising its desired results due to the fact that what farmers are buying as animal feed is not standard. We urge KEBS and parliamentary committee to crack their whip and ensure that standards are up to date since they are there but no one is enforcing them” said Munya.
According to research by animal health experts, a health dairy animal consuming quality feeds and concentrate can produce up to fourty litres a day but at the moment most farmers are producing as low as ten litres per a day from their dairy cows.
Currently, KCC is buying a litre of milk delivered to their factories at Sh34 which many farmers say is a loss to their agribusiness, adding that for them to break even they must be paid up to Sh50 per litre.
However munya says that with proper enforcement of the standards, farmers can hit their target and realise profits from their dairy farming adding that at the moment the county milk consumption is high.
Munya added that his ministry has set aside 1.8 billion shillings for modernazition of KCC factories countywide starting with kiganjo which will be equipped with machines for instant powdered milk.
“At the moment most of these factories have obsolete machines, some of them set up in 1969 we are in the process of modernising them to ensure this cooperative runs profitably” said munya.
Kieni MP Kanini Keega who is the chair of trade committee pledged for more support to milk industry saying that farmer must earn good returns.
“Will as an assembly will continue to support the sector by providing funds and registration infact we plan to enact a fund for dairy farmers similar like cherry fund ” said Kanini.
