Dairy farmers are calling on the government to reduce taxes on animal feed as President William Ruto plans to introduce improved buffalo and camel breeds to address Kenya’s milk shortage.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The farmers, from Gatanga in Murang’a County, say the high cost of production is reducing their earnings and threatening the sustainability of dairy farming.

Speaking in Murang’a during the launch of newly restored government milk coolers, the farmers also called for amendments to cooperative laws to prevent milk processors from buying directly from farmers, arguing that the practice weakens dairy cooperatives.

“The challenge we have as farmers is that the cost of animal feed is very high; the business has not generated much profit,” one of the farmers stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

“We want a law that says people should buy milk in cooperatives if they are from processors, and the cooperatives should deal with the farmers,” Head of Coopertains Dairy Cooperatives, John Waweru, said.

Additionally, the farmers also want changes to cooperative laws to prevent milk processing companies from purchasing milk directly from individual farmers, which weakens the dairy society.

The call comes as the government explores alternative ways to increase milk production, including improved buffalo and camel breeds, as announced by President Ruto during the Agriculture and  Food Security Summit at Jamuri park on Friday, October 9.

In the address, Ruto directed Agriculture Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke to facilitate the importation of improved camel breeds and buffaloes as part of the efforts to boost the country’s milk supply.

In his speech, he cited India as an example of a country where buffaloes are commercially milked, pointing to the animals as a potential source of milk.

This has raised public scrutiny over how the government is planning to introduce water buffaloes for dairy production as well as their proposed classification as food animals.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke