Milk quality and marketing in Kenya

Milk quality vs price by Mwangi Mumero


Recent remarks by the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) managing director Dr Kipkurui arap Langat to the effect that his firm will start paying farmers according to the milk quality delivered has caught farmers flat-footed.


According to Dr Langat, fat content in milk will be the main factor considered in paying farmers- not the quantity- as is currently the case.


Consequently, farmers with cows producing milk low in fat will get less pay compared to those whose animals produce higher fat content.


“ This move will be unfair to many farmers across the country. Many of us are ignorant on issues pertaining to milk quality and therefore New KCC and other marketing firms will need to educate farmers on quality milk production”, observed David Kamau, a farmer in Ol joro orok, Nyandarua County.


According to the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) milk composition varies considerably among breeds of dairy cattle- Jersey and Guernsey breeds give milk of higher fat and protein content than Friesian.


Zebu cows can give milk containing up to 7 per cent fat.


As cows grow older the fat content of their milk decreases by about 0.02 percentage units per lactation.








Across the country, very few of the the over 800,000 smallholder farmers keep pure-bred milk breeds like Guernsey and Friesian – with the majority raising mixed dairy cows.


Dr Langat did not however clarify whether New KCC will help farmers with the anticipated cost of transition from the mixed dairy breeds to pure-breeds which have higher milk fat content and therefore better returns for farmers.


But beyond milk fat, quality of delivered milk is also determined by other factors mainly pre-milking and post-milking handling.


Approximately 4 million litres of milk are produced annually in the country with the bulk coming from these smallholder farmers.


Most of the milk is delivered in plastic containers- mostly re-used cooking fat vessels or petroleum containers. A minority use aluminum churns – that are recommended for they are easily cleaned.


Use of these plastic containers has been blamed for the poor quality of the milk sometimes reaching the market.


“ Sometimes our milk is rejected at the processing firms because of poor quality or adulteration of milk. We have on occasions nabbed farmers who have added water to their milk to increase the volumes. Similarly we have refused milk from some farmers due to dirty containers they use in delivering their milk”, observes Charles Munyui, who works with a private firm in Murang'a district that delivers milk to the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC).


Over 40 per cent of the milk marketed in the country is delivered to New KCC with the rest going to Brookside Dairies among others processing firms.


Milk testing and quality control is an essential component of any milk processing industry whether small, medium or large scale.


Milk being made up of 87 per cent water is prone to adulteration by unscrupulous middlemen and unfaithful farm workers.


On the other hand, its high nutritive value makes it an ideal medium for the rapid multiplication of bacteria, particularly under unhygienic production and storage at ambient temperatures.


Research conducted at the University of Nairobi, School of Veterinary Medicine at Kabete shows that approximately 13 per cent of milk samples sold in Kenya were adulterated with added water.


According to the study, the milk samples had high levels of coliform bacteria attributed to dirty containers used in delivering milk from farmers.


While Munyui and other milk transports occasionally test milk for water content before collecting it from farmers , many admit that it is s 'tedious process and quite infrequent'.


High quality milk is visually appealing, free of adulteration and meets specific quality standards for somatic cell count and bacteria.


Production of high quality milk requires high levels of pre-milking udder hygiene as well as clean milking equipment.


Post milking handling is also vital in lowering bacteria content. Unfortunately, few smallholder farmers have the skills or equipment needed in cooling milk before delivery to the transporters and processors.


But the emergence of new technologies will now make it easier for farmers, deliverers and processors to collect data on milk quality, quantity and ascertain the total volumes in the country.


Developed by Sunbeam Technologies Limited, this milk analyser detects different components of milk- fat content, added water , solid and other materiel at the touch of the button.


This system connects players in the milk production , delivery and processing chain through radio frequencies, short message service (SMS) and email.


Transmitting the information through the mobile networks, the analyser can trigger real time results of the sampled milk to the main server of a given processor. This means that information collected from a particular farmer is transmitted to the processor immediately.

“This shorten the time of processing receipts to the farmers common in the conventional methods used in the country. It also helps the processor to minimise errors occasioned by wrong data entry as done by the manual process”, says Santosh Solanki, head of Sunbeam Technologies.


Already in use in Rwanda, the system helps processors to get data on collected milk, its quality and quantity even before the actual delivery to the processor.


Solaski says that that the analyzer can check milk from up to 100 farmers in an hour with 98 per cent accuracy.


Analyzed milk can also help farmers to identify diseased cows and take up veterinary services quickly to stem the spread of diseases and milk rejection.


“ It allows farmers room to make regular checks on their animals on a particular breed on its quality and quantity with reference to printed slips”, says Solanski. For instance, somatic cell count in milk will be indicative of mastitis – a debilitating contagious disease of the udder and teats.



The data collected can then be verified along what was delivered to the factory- reducing fraud and corruption especially through collaboration between milk clerks and some farmers.


Over the years, there has been concerns that farmers were losing thousands of litres to unscrupulous milk clerks lowering confidence among the mainly rural farmers.


Beyond the milk tests, figures collected from the analyser can hep processors to make proactive measures to curb increased o decreased milk production.


“ Accurate data on milk collected could easily avert a milk glut and could easily be used to predict the future performance and hence avoid incidences of milk being poured off due to lack of market”, said Solanski.

In a recent exhibition at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute ( KARI) farmers sought information on the device and way it can help them in their dairying. (ends)