Nairobi — President William Ruto Saturday said Kenya is on course to attain new milk production and coffee yield targets as a result of duty waivers under the Finance Act 2023.
Ruto said the government is keen to raise national milk production by enhancing milk yield per cow from the current average of 2 litres to 7 litres daily in a bid to support incomes of small-holder farmers.
He also committed to improve coffee productivity from 2 kilogrammes per tree to 5 kilogrammes and raise national production from 51,000 metric tonnes to 81,000 metric tonnes in the next crop year to hit 200,000 metric tonnes by 2027.
Speaking during the Ushirika Day on Saturday, Ruto said that the government intends to double milk production to 10 billion liters since there is a market for milk products on the continent.
“We have waived tax on the incentives of those who want to manufacture vaccines for our animals so that the cost can be affordable, and the cost of animal feeds has to go down as we have also waived tax on the feeds,” he said.
“Investments in preservation and processing infrastructure are aimed at building up the country’s capacity to export to our regional as well as broader African market.”
The Head of State said the modernization of Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) will increase its effectiveness and allow it to sustainably manage the milk market by turning extra milk into powder. He added KCC will also support price stabilization.
He went on to state that the government will establish aggregation and distribution facilities for the storage, value addition, and selling of agricultural products as part of a very promising partnership with county governments.
Ruto affirmed government’s commitment to decrease post-harvest losses, eliminate predatory cartels and increase farmer incomes.