With the surge in milk production nationwide, there is a growing demand for cooling facilities to mitigate post-harvest losses.
Consequently, Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke earlier on Monday morning met with the Governor Cecily Mbarire of Embu County. Their discussions at this meeting center on the collaborative efforts between the National and County governments to boost livestock production, including the provision of milk coolers for improved transportation and preservation of milk.
Towards the end of 2023, following a directive by H.E President Ruto, the Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, small and Medium Enterprises allocated 700 Million Shillings for upgrading the KCC Runyenjes cooling plant to a fully-fledged processing plant.
This move underscores the imperative to bolster production capacities, aligning with the objective of supplying the upgraded plant with an increased volume of milk for processing.
As such, there has been increased production and demand for cooling facilities to reduce post-harvest losses.
During the meeting with Hon. Mbarire, the State Department of Livestock’s Principal Secretary revealed that the government together with the Ministry of Agriculture is to make a request for 25 milk coolers, with the capacity of between 3,000 and 5,000 liters and their accessories.
These coolers will be distributed across the county.
The Kenya Kwanza government has identified dairy and livestock economy as sub-sectors with the quickest economic turnaround time and they will become key drivers in improving food security, creating jobs and boosting exports.
The dairy sector therefore is a crucial pillar with the government actively striving to boost dairy productivity to the targeted 12B liters annually.