May 21, 2025

Kenya's annual milk production to hit 3.4 billion litres by 2028

The annual milk production in Kenya is expected to reach 3.4 billion litres by 2028 through interventions by the Nourishing Prosperity Alliance: Forage for Animal Growth in East Africa (NPA-Forage), a consortium of private sector players in the country's dairy sector.

The potential 53 % growth will involve 500,000 smallholder farmers with a herd of 2 million. Realised revenue growth is also approximated at Sh156 billion (US$1.16 billion).

"The key interventions include building a self-sustaining commercial marketplace for nutrient-dense, climate-adapted forage that is accessible to small-scale dairy farmers who make up 80% of the total dairy farmer population and meet more than half of the country's milk needs," according to statistics by the consortium, coming on the success of the first pilot project that took place between 2020 and 2023.

Poor animal nutrition contributes to a milk supply deficit of 4.42 billion litres annually in Kenya, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) statistics, translating to about Sh169 billion (US$1.30 billion) in unrealised dairy sector revenue.

"Dairy farmers are changing their attitudes and practices around how they feed their animals, resulting in higher milk yields. We are also training farmers to grow nutritious, climate-adapted forage for their animals and for sale," said Brenda Rono, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager Kenya at NPA Forage.

Since the launch in 2020, NPA Forage has trained 5,500 commercially oriented small-scale dairy farmers on forage production and optimized rationing.

Among those trained, 91 % of participants reported an increased awareness of the nutritional value of forage and a greater ability to formulate nutritionally balanced feeds.

For participants who have harvested and started using forage to feed their dairy cattle, 87% have seen an increase in milk production, with an average milk yield increase of 64 % across forage types, demonstrating the value of adopting forage.

"Poor animal nutrition contributes to low animal productivity (milk supply). By building a market for nutritious, cost-effective forage, we are targeting to grow the dairy industry by 16% this year, 26% next year, and up to 53% in 2028," said Ian Mutua Muthama, NPA-Forage Country Lead Technical Manager, at the sidelines of a farmer training event.

"This growth will be measured through various parameters, including the amount of milk produced by each cow, the number of farmers adopting NPA's nutritious forage techniques, and the overall commercial benefit accrued to both farmers and forage sellers," he added.

-      Capital Business