Farmers sold 250.6 million litres of milk to processors in the first three months of this year, representing a 14.5 percent increase, a slower growth compared to the same quarter last year, when volumes grew by 29.1 percent to 218.8 million litres.
Data from the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB), however, indicates that the increase was an improvement from the 12.04 percent growth recorded during the full year to December 2024, when volumes hit a record high of 908.4 million litres.
The quarterly slowdown in growth this year has been attributed to lower rainfall compared to last year's first quarter, when rains boosted production and allowed farmers to enjoy cheaper fodder prices.
“This (slower growth) was expected as production systems depend on rain/feed systems matching the weather patterns,” said KDB acting Managing Director William Maritim.
KDB began recording milk intake data by processors in 2001.
The 2002 calendar year recorded the lowest sales volume to formal processors at 143.6 million litres, marking a 5.8 percent drop from the 152.4 million litres sold in 2001.
With an approximated 1.8 million smallholder farmers who make up around 80 percent of the producers, it is estimated that about 80 percent of Kenya’s milk is marketed informally.
This translated to 83 percent of the total dairy products sold out by Uganda during the period.
KDB estimates production – including formally and informally marketed milk – is about 5.2 billion litres annually.
In its 2024-2027 strategic plan, KDB aims to grow Kenya’s annual milk production to 11 billion litres and boost exports to one billion litres.
“To double production, interventions to enhance feeding, breeding, disease control, and farmer extension services will be implemented to increase productivity per cow from five to 10 litres per day,” said the State agency.
As of May, the dairy board had licensed some 433 milk producers and coolers, but production from these merchants has not been sufficient to meet demand.
This has seen Kenya increasingly rely on imports, particularly from Uganda, to meet the demand for processed milk and related products such as ghee, cheese, butter and yoghurt.
Data from the Uganda Dairy Development Authority – the agency that regulates the country’s dairy subsector – for instance, shows that the East African neighbour exported dairy products worth Ush810.56 billion (Sh28.6 billion) to Kenya during the year ended June 2023.
This translated to 83 percent of the total dairy products sold out by Uganda during the period.
