Nyeri County government in new milk packaging venture

Farmers deliver milk at a collection centre ready for transportation to Mukurwe-ini Wakulima Dairy. The government should come up with measures to check the high aflatoxin content in animal feeds, a new study has revealed. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  JAMES NGUNJIRI

What you need to know:

  • The Nyeri County government will pump Sh22 million into the new milk packaging venture.
  • Governor Nderitu Gachagua announced that once the county government inaugurates the industry, it will start by packing milk from Mukurwe-ini before going for milk from other sub-counties.
  • He said that they are holding consultations with development partners to ease the burden of transporting milk to Mukurwe-ini.
  • Chair and founder of Wakulima Dairy, Muhika Mutahi said they have been in the market for three months now packing their milk under the brand name of ‘Royal Fresh’.

The Nyeri County government will pump Sh22 million into Wakulima Dairy in Mukurwe-ini in a new milk packaging venture.

Once fully operational, the process will see the firm eat into the county’s milk market currently dominated by Brookside Dairies and the government-owned New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC).

Last week, during the Mashujaa Day celebrations, Nyeri County Governor Nderitu Gachagua announced that once the county government inaugurates the industry, it will start by packing milk from Mukurwe-ini before going for milk from other sub-counties.

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“As a county government we are urging dairy farmers from Mathira and Othaya sub-counties to meet and deliberate on how they too can start delivering their milk to Wakulima Dairy in Mukurwe-ini and make good use of that plant for milk value addition,” said Mr Gachagua.

He said besides this, the county also has plans to establish two more dairies in Kieni East and West sub-counties.

He said that they are holding consultations with development partners to ease the burden of transporting milk to Mukurwe-ini noting that it is through value addition that farmers will be able to earn more.

'ROYAL FRESH' MILK

In a telephone interview, the chair and founder of Wakulima Dairy, Muhika Mutahi said they have been in the market for three months now packing their milk under the brand name of "Royal Fresh" and usually sell 6,000 litres per day against a daily intake of 30,000 litres.

“We are already in the market. The value addition we have done is pasteurisation, we are already putting milk into packets,” said Mr Mutahi.

Wakulima Dairy was started in 1990 as a self-help group with the aim of collecting members’ milk and marketing it to milk processors. It has 3,000 active farmers.

Mr Mutahi said in three to four months they hope to have the processing plants up and running after receiving money from the county government.

The dairy maintains a well-equipped laboratory which is used to analyse the quality of milk delivered and also for analysis of clinical diseases.

This is to ensure that the milk sold to the processors is high quality and also to avoid the losses associated with low-quality milk.

Farmers’ milk is usually tested at the collection points and any enhanced tests are done at the firm’s laboratory, stated the management

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