Ouagadougou:Taita Taveta Taita Taveta County is underperforming in its dairy sector, producing only a small portion of its potential. Farmers are missing out on approximately Sh4.63 billion in annual earnings due to low milk production, weak cooperative structures, and inadequate use of available market opportunities.
According to Kenya News Agency, the county currently produces around 10,000 litres of milk daily from about 10,000 dairy cows owned by 6,500 farmers. This is significantly below the potential 195,000 litres per day, as reported by the Department of Livestock Production.
County Executive Committee Member for Livestock Production, Dawson Katuu Mzenge, has urged dairy farmers to boost production and strengthen their cooperatives to unlock the sector’s economic potential. Speaking at a meeting with dairy farmers from Voi, Mwatate, Taita, and Taveta sub-counties, Mzenge emphasized the importance of increased milk production, organized marketing, and collective investment to transform dairy farming into a sustainable source of household income.
Mzenge highlighted the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC) Miritini as a valuable market outlet that remains underutilized. He encouraged farmers to organize and increase milk deliveries to leverage the processing infrastructure available at the Miritini facility.
Chief Officer for Livestock Production, Mcharo Mwalugha, noted the county’s limited number of active dairy cooperative societies, with only 11 currently functional. This limitation has weakened farmers’ bargaining power and their ability to pool resources and benefit from economies of scale. Mwalugha urged farmers to join existing cooperatives or establish new ones and to strengthen their governance structures to improve market access and implement dairy development initiatives.
To tackle feed shortages and enhance productivity, the county government has set up 14 fodder demonstration sites through the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, along with a 10-acre fodder multiplication centre supported by the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action programme. These initiatives aim to provide quality animal feeds and mitigate seasonal feed shortages affecting milk yields.
During the meeting, farmers elected new officials for the Taita Taveta Dairy Cooperatives Union, aiming to improve coordination and representation at the county level. The new leadership is expected to streamline dairy cooperative structures and integrate the union into the larger Pwani Dairy Cooperative Union, potentially expanding opportunities for milk aggregation and market access.
The push to commercialize dairy farming aligns with the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, which prioritizes dairy as a key value chain for boosting smallholder incomes and expanding formal milk marketing. Nationally, the dairy sector has seen growth, with production reaching 5.52 billion litres in 2025, positioning Kenya as Africa’s leading milk producer.
Despite national advancements, Taita Taveta’s dairy sector remains below its potential, highlighting the need for increased productivity, stronger farmer organizations, and reliable market linkages to ensure local farmers benefit from the expanding dairy industry.
