KENYA – The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) has partnered the Bright Dairy Farmers Group and Kenya Dairy Farmers Federation to revise the currently suspended draft dairy regulations as it seeks more engagements from stakeholders in the dairy sector.
Margaret Kibogy managing director at KDB said the decision was arrived at following various consultative meetings with key stakeholders in the sector to ensure development of comprehensive regulations that will be facilitative to all players in the dairy industry.
“It is important that the dairy sector value chain is streamlined enabling dairy farmers to enjoy better prices via informed access to milk coolers and processors.
This will best be addressed via structured consultations on the contentious regulations,” she said.
Ms Kibogy said that the regulations will ensure a harmonised dairy sector as opposed to the current fragmentation which has been observed to benefit selected players in the value chain at the expense of the producers.
Elisha Bwatuti, executive secretary Bright Dairy Farmers Group hailed the engagements highlighting that the remodelling will address major conflicts experienced in the dairy industry.
“We acknowledge that for the dairy industry to thrive we need to have facilitative regulations even as we work towards self-regulation.
Therefore, we as small holder dairy farmers in the country will continue offering our un-wavered support for these regulations even as we continue making amends so that it does not hurt the grass root farmers in the remote parts of the country,” he noted.
Mr. Richard Soy, Secretary General of the Kenya Dairy Farmers Federation called for the State Department of Livestock and the County governments to implement strategies that will allow a smoother transition into the regulations.
Notably, he highlighted high cost of production, seasonality in production which result to importation, increased adulteration in the dairy sector, insufficient support infrastructure and capacity building on sustainable production of safe and quality milk as major issues affecting the sector.
The dairy industry regulator was compelled to shelf the previously developed regulation following critics that the regulations will bolster large scale processors while putting at a disadvantage small scale dairy farmers in the country.
Ms Kibogy indicated that the process, which began reviewing in 2016, seeks to develop comprehensive regulations that will formalise the dairy industry.
