Brookside sets up Sh6m milk coolers for West Pokot dairy farmers

A supermarket attendant at work in the milk section. Brookside Dairies has firmed its grip on the local milk market with acquisition of Buzeki, the makers of Molo Milk. Photo/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By MERCY TUMKOU

In Summary

• Brookside Dairy built the plants at Tapach and Kaptalamwa on the West Pokot-Marakwet border that are expected to offer the two communities new streams of income and further curb cattle rustling.
• Lelan Highland Dairy chairman Kenneth Lomaibong’ said that the new cooling stations would increase economic opportunities for residents of the pastoralist communities.
• He said that the presence of the two coolers at the border would lead to peaceful co-existence among communities in the two counties.

Dairy farmers in West Pokot received a boost when a leading milk processor installed two cooling plants at a cost of Sh6 million.

Brookside Dairy built the plants at Tapach and Kaptalamwa on the West Pokot-Marakwet border that are expected to offer the two communities new streams of income and further curb cattle rustling.

Elders from both communities attended the launch, during which the firm pledged to make dairy farming a vibrant commercial enterprise in the two counties.

Lelan Highland Dairy chairman Kenneth Lomaibong’ said that the new cooling stations would increase economic opportunities for residents of the pastoralist communities.

He said that the presence of the two coolers at the border would lead to peaceful co-existence among communities in the two counties.

“We are grateful that Brookside has introduced commercial dairy here in which milk will now be more of an income earner unlike in the past when it was exclusively used as food,” he said.

Mr Lomaibong said dairy farming had spurred development in the region.

“Already, the government has begun rehabilitation of the Kapenguria-Murkokoi road which is used by heavy vehicles that transport milk from farms, to various destinations,” he said.

Brookside’s general manager in charge of milk procurement and extension services John Gethi assured residents that the milk processor would continue to partner with farmers from both West Pokot and Marakwet counties to establish additional cooling facilities in the two regions
.

“Brookside assures you of a ready market for your milk. Our promise is to lift all the milk you sell to us every day,” said Mr Gethi.

Gethi warned farmers to desist from adding water or chemical preservatives to their milk, saying his company had an elaborate raw milk testing devices that would detect adulterated milk.

He added that the company would reject contaminated milk at the farm-gate. “The economic burden of milk rejection due to added water or chemical presence is enormous. We want to achieve a zero raw milk rejection status for all our milk suppliers countrywide,” said Mr Gethi.

Kenya Dairy Board regional manager in charge of the North Rift Pius Cheserek said that the regulator would soon partner with Brookside to train dairy farmers to enable them increase the volume of milk sold to the processor.

Mr Cheserek said the board would not tolerate milk spiked with chemicals to preserve it.