Nakuru County Government has applauded dairy farmers for joining hands to form cooperative societies to reap benefits therein and pledged to strengthen the sector to better serve the residents.
Emphasising the importance of cooperatives, County Executive for Agriculture Leonard Bor said they enabled farmers to collaborate, negotiate collectively, share knowledge, and address common challenges, leading to a more sustainable and resilient dairy industry.
Speaking today during the Starlight Cooperative Annual General Meeting (AGM), the officer noted that the County administration, led by Governor Susan Kihika, would use cooperative societies to facilitate subsidised artificial insemination services to farmers.
He urged the farmers to adopt the new technology in feeding and breeding so as to boost dairy farming and also practice proper agronomic practices to increase productivity.
Starlight Cooperative Society has a membership of 720 members focusing on dairy and potato value chains, collecting an average of
800 litres per day.
However, despite the profitability of the dairy industry, the majority of the players are over 60 years and above because a number of their children were not willing to continue with the family business, preferring white collar jobs.
For the dairy farmers, the ongoing heavy rains come as a boom because they increase silage, lowering the cost of feed since the farmers do not have to purchase hay and water.
Source: Kenya News Agency