Milk processor Brookside has paid out Sh303 million to its contracted farmers in the half-year to May under a scheme that rewards producers for quality supplies and surpassing targets.
Mr Emmanuel Kabaki, Brookside’s general manager for milk procurement, said the amount will benefit dairy groups and individual farmers across the country who signed up for the programme and have been supplying raw milk to the processor in the six months between December 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025. This marks an increase from the Sh218 million paid out in a similar period last year.
“The beneficiary farmer groups and individual suppliers signed up for our reward scheme and were given raw milk supply targets, for both quality and quantity. We are rewarding these farmers as a recognition of their toil over the six-month period,” he said in a statement issued in Kitale on Tuesday.
The farmer reward scheme was pioneered by Brookside six years ago as it sought to appreciate the critical role raw milk suppliers play in the upstream phase of the dairy value chain.
The payout has been appreciating over the years, as the processor’s base of contracted farmers continues to expand.
“The reward remains a statement of our excellent working relationship with all our 160,000 raw milk suppliers across the country. It has boosted the supply of high-quality milk, thus enabling us to continue supplying the market with high-quality products,” Mr Kabaki added.
Besides the reward scheme, Brookside contracted farmers have also been supported through extension services, including the use of demonstration farms to showcase best practices in the dairy industry and field day training.
The firm said over 4,500 contracted farmers have this year benefited from its extension services and training.
“We are also strengthening the dairy value chain through the adoption of sustainable environment practices. We are addressing the challenge of seasonality in the dairy value chain through the building of water pans to enable farming communities to access water for their animals. The pans are rainwater harvesting structures which provide a reliable water source for livestock, domestic use,” Mr Kabaki said.
