Dairy farmers in Nyandarua decry lack of market for their products, which they attribute to the recent heavy rains in the country that rendered roads to the market impassable, among other reasons.
The farmers say they have been forced to pour liters of milk as they can no longer sell the previously profitable product.
Nyandarua farmers say that milk prices in the region have drastically dropped due to overproduction over the last few months that they can no longer make profits.
According to them, amounts spent in the production of milk, which is about 28 shillings per liter, is more than the 16 shillings per liter their customers are now buying milk at.
The dairy farmers’ situation is reportedly so serious that most of them are contemplating abandoning the business.
Already, some farmers have resorted to dismissing their farmworkers and selling their numerous dairy cows, as they see no sense in spending so much in animal feeds and other production expenses only to earn less than half the cost of production.
Nyandarua County dairy farmers’ complaints come shortly after farmers in Laikipia County complained of declining milk prices and losses experienced.
READ: House Prices in Nairobi’s High-end Market Fell By 5.4 Percent
The county administrations promised to find ways to help dairy farmers in the two counties reduce the cost of production of milk, to boost their dying business.
Laikipia County CEC Dr. Lucy Murugi advised dairy farmers in her county to adopt new techniques that will ensure they (Farmers) reduce the cost of production, seeing that the commodity is on high supply.
In Nyandarua, the county government is planning to partner with the United States International University (USIU) and the Canadian Government to come up with homemade animal proteins in a bid to reduce production costs.
“We want our dairy farmers to learn how to make animal protein from insects and worms so that they stop relying on commercial feeds which are now expensive, seeing as there is an oversupply of milk in the market,” said Dr. James Karitu, CEC Agriculture and Livestock Nyandarua County.