Milk prices have increased with a packet of 500ml going up from Sh48 to between Sh50 – Sh65 as most consumers also decrease their intake due to the prices.
A spot check in retail outlets in Kiambu County, Ilara is going for Sh64 up from Sh48 two months ago while, Tuzo has increased their milk by Sh7 from Sh50 to current Sh57.
Molo milk and Gold-crown are selling their milk at Sh65 and Sh60 while shopkeepers in the estates within Kiambu town are selling the long life milk at Sh70 up from Sh60.
Speaking to KNA, the Kiambu Sub-County production Officer Mr. Eustase Murithi said it is time that residents start rationing their milk intake as the prices would continue rising.
“Animals feeds are scarce and expensive and this is a factor that is making milk be expensive. If a farmer normally buys five diary meals, he will have to reduce his meals to two so definitely the milk production will go down,” said Murithi.
Two weeks ago, during the launch of the Report on the cost of milk production in the country in the year 2021, the Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Peter Munya attributed poor feeding of dairy herds as the main challenge facing livestock farmers, which he said contributed to the decline on herd sizes per farm over the last five years, an issue he said, undermines the capacity of the country to be self- sufficient in milk and dairy products.
According to a dairy farmer at Ruiru in Kiambu County James Kamau, there is not enough forage and animal feeds to sustain his cattle despite reports stating that there is increase in milk production.
Faith Nyambura, a Kiambu resident said that her family now has shifted from taking tea with milk to black tea as she could no longer afford a packet of milk.
Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy released a report two weeks ago on the status of milk production last year showed that Kiambu County has the highest milk production in the country followed by Meru County although most dairy farmers in Kiambu say their production has reduced drastically.
The 2021 Economic survey put the value of marketed milk to have increased by 48.2 percent from Sh22.7billion in 2020 to Sh33.7 billion in 2021 while milk production also increased last year by 17.2 percent.
According to the government, the rise in production and revenue shows that the country is making a headway in managing the cost of milk production. However, a lot more needs to be done to make the industry more competitive regionally and globally.
