Naivasha Farmer Milks Money From Value Addition 1 July 2014 By Agatha Ngotho The Star Richard Mahinda makes animal feed concentrates which he mixes with hay to feed his dairy cows. He sells pasteurised milk and yoghurt. Dairy farmers in Kenya are yet to get value for their investments as many are only able to sell fresh milk at retail prices, while huge milk processing firms reap the benefits of processed milk and its by products. Richard Mahinda a dairy farmer from Karati, Naivasha has however taken the risk and invested heavily on value addition in his farm. He has invested a total of Sh10 million in his farm projects. Before venturing into dairy farming, he used to do export crops like snow peas, garden peas and vegetables until he left for the US with his family for 10 years. Mahinda then returned to Kenya in 2009. Initially he kept 15 cows but decided to reduce the number to nine because of the design of the cowsheds he is putting up. I am in the process of expanding my dairy farming business and I am building a structure that will accommodate 35 cows permanently. We have already started putting up the structure but have been grappling with financial challenges to finish it, said Mahinda. He shared this during a tour by scientists attending a symposium on research to feed Africa in Naivasha organised by Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (Kari) in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Currently each of the nine cows produces 25 litres of milk per day but he says with proper management and good feeding, they have the potential to produce 35 litres each. He sells pasteurised milk at Sh 50 per litre since it has a long life span and it is easier to handle than to fresh milk. Once the structure is complete and I am able to increase the number to 35 cows, I will be able to increase my production and meet my market demand. We used to sell raw milk but handling was a problem. Pasteurised milk is easy to handle and hygienic and the healthy benefit is passed to the consumer, he said, adding that he has an outlet in Naivasha town where he sells pasteurised milk and yoghurt. Mahinda has a pasteurised machine that he bought at Sh 200,000. It has a capacity to produce about 100 litres within 30 minutes. The demand for yoghurt, he says, has increased and to meet the demand he has increased production from 10 litres a day to 30 to 40 litres of yoghurt per day. Due to the high demand, I have also engaged another farmer to supply me with 100 litres of fresh milk at Sh 40 per day as my milk production is inadequate, said the financial specialist. Mahinda has also put up greenhouses to plant animal feeds and invested in a miller to make concentrates such as sardines, sunflower cakes which have to be rationed and scaled to measure the right quantity. The machine has a capacity of one tonne and we apply the ratio depending on what we want to feed the animals to ensure quality. We use the machine to cut the hay into small pieces so that the animals can feed on all of it to reduce wastage, said Mahinda. He also has an automatic computer control incubator that cost him more than Sh200,000. I have over 200 eggs in the incubator and once they hatch I intend to sell to farmers at a price of Sh200 for a 30 day old chick, he said. Although Mahinda is yet to get returns for the huge investment, he is confident that once all his plans and structures are put in place and start working as envisioned, he will reap what he has sowed. The Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (Kari) has been working with farmers in Naivasha through farmers field schools to train them on the best practices and the latest technologies. Kari director Ephraim Mukisira, said they intend to expand centres to all the counties. We want to include remote and marginalised areas in our programmes. Currently we have already expanded the Kari centre in Marsabit. It will carry out camel research among other areas. We want to be closer to farmers, said Mukisira. The centre was previously a small unit that has been expanded for about Sh 100 million. It has a laboratory, administration block, meeting halls and hostels for visiting scientists. Mukisira added that they have started working on another centre in Garissa County at a cost Sh100 million on 100 acres of land given to Kari by the Garissa county government. We are also looking for land in Turkana County and there will reach a time when every county in Kenya will have a Kari centre. The best thing is to move closer to the farmers. It is not right to have farmers travel 80 or more kilometers to go to an agriculture show and pay, yet services are free for them, Mukisira said.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:49:06 +0000
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