Members of the Poultry, Dairy and Goats Cooperative Society (PODAGO) in Kirinyaga have received a Sh6 million milk cooler from the county government.
The sacco, based at Kagumo in Kerugoya Central sub county and whose membership comprises of small scale farmers started off with a daily milk collection of only 25 litres in 2005 by five members.
Over the years the Sacco has grown to over 2,800 members with a daily intake of 5,400 liters of raw milk.
Kirinyaga county governor Anne Waiguru who toured the facility said due to the rapid growth of the Sacco, the county government saw the need to support the farmers with much larger milk cooler to supplement the other one
“Due to the impressive growth of this Sacco, with a daily milk collection of now 5,400 liters, this year we as a government have agreed to provide you with an additional cooler to enable you collect more milk to improve the livelihoods of your members,” she said.
Speaking at the Sacco collection and cooling plant Wednesday, Waiguru also urged the Sacco management to observe good governance of the organization.
She said her government would monitor the Sacco closely for any mismanagement issues which may lead to automatic discontinuation of both technical and financial support.
The Sacco has an instamatic milk cooler which enables the farmers not to experience any post-harvest loses before the commodity is collected by the processor.
She said her government will work with the board to assist them acquire a machine to package the milk as value addition venture.
“This will create the much needed employment for our youths in the county besides improving the proceeds for our farmers,” she said.
By Irungu Mwangi
