The Kenya Dairy Board has warned traders against dealing with illegal powdered milk which is taking up the local market share pushing farmers to losses noting that the government will not relent on crackdown.
Speaking in Korakora division in Garissa on Thursday during an inspection tour of a local milk processing plant in the area, the Kenya Dairy Board chairperson Genesio Mugo said that currently, there is no permit issued to anybody to import powdered milk into the country.
“I want to state clearly that there is no permit to import powdered milk into the country. This is because we want to create a market for our local milk from camels, cows, and goats. After all, the illegal milk is taking away our local milk market share,” Mugo said.
“We want Kenyans to consume our milk and not the ones from other countries. We have powdered milk from our local companies like the KCC and more investors are coming to set up powdering milk plants to fill in the gaps we may have,” he added.
Mugo reiterated that with the recent rains, the country can produce enough milk for local consumption.
The Board’s Managing Director Margaret Kibogy on her part said that currently the Board is focusing on nontraditional milk-producing counties like Garissa and have already done training for farmers and other stakeholders to increase dairy farming knowledge.
“Milk consumption in this area is very high and we have decided to expand our ‘footprint’ here by setting up offices so that we can enhance our services and get closer to our stakeholders,” Kibogy said.
On the illegal powder milk, the MD said that they are working with a multi-agency team to crack down on illegal products and ensure that local farmers and consumers are protected.
“We want to welcome all our traders and other stakeholders to be compliant with the regulations and laws so that we can protect our farmers and our consumers because we don’t even know how safe the illegal milk is for human consumption,” she said.
By Erick Kyalo
