Construction work at the multimillion milk processing plant in Nandi County nears completion.
The Nandi Dairy Cooperative Factory, one of the largest in the North Rift region is expected to help dairy farmers transition from primary production to value addition and agro processing so as to double their income and realize more profits.
The plant which is located at Kabiyet township in Mosop Sub County is expected to process over 200,000 liters of milk per day
The state of the art factory upon completion will also help dairy farmers to avoid exploitation by middle men, create both direct and indirect employment and enhance the nutrition of ECDE pupils
According to Nandi Governor Stephen Sang, the factory whose construction started in 2019 will have enough storage to process milk from nearby counties too.
“Currently the installation process is 80 percent complete. We are actively engaged in finalizing essential aspects such as waste treatment facilities and other utilities including the construction of standby generators structures among other key components,” he said.
The second term governor who is keen in leaving a legacy in the agriculture sector called upon farmers to make use of extension officers and improve the quality of livestock adding that it will be shameful for the plant to be forced to source milk from other counties yet it was established specifically to address problems in the region.
“Our project timeline aims to conclude all remaining tasks within the next three months, after which we will proceed with equipment testing and transition to full scale dairy processing. It will be a waste of the taxpayer’s money if raw materials expected from farmers are unavailable,” he said
Already the department of agriculture is in the process of installing milk coolers in areas of the county with high milk production to reduce the distance between farm gates and markets and also address post-harvest losses.
Since the onset of Devolution in 2013, dairy farmers in Nandi have been demanding the setting up of such a milk factory to buy and process milk from them, decrying exploitation from middlemen.
Middlemen buy a liter of milk at Sh30 before transporting it to urban towns where they sell at Sh 70 per liter double the buying price.
Nandi dairy farmers stated that they will work with various cooperatives in the region to improve and increase milk production, adding that this is a dream come true.
“This will be a milestone to the farmers in terms of milk production and boosted earnings. Without value additions, the returns have been low. If the prices increase, it will motivate more farmers into dairy farming. The county government should initiate branding and packaging the milk,” said Daniel Korir a dairy farmer
To show his commitment of improving agricultural production and lives of farmers, the governor recently launched Nandi Chicken slaughter house to economically empower poultry farmers.
The slaughter house which is located within Kapsabet municipality, has a processing capacity of 500 birds per hour.
By Linet Wafula
