In connection to the annual meeting the FoodAfrica Supervisory Board paid a field visit to the Ol Kalou Dairy Cooperative on 26 February 2015. This cooperative was established by a few small-scale dairy farmers in 2003. Since then it has grown to become a major dairy cooperative in the area and has currently about 6000 members.
The members of the cooperative deliver up to 40 000 litres of cow milk daily to the cooperative-owned milk cooling centre. On reception, raw milk is tested for hygienic quality and then cooled for transportation to a processing plant in Nairobi to be pasteurized and packed for sale. The cooperative has a well trained staff and it also provides various services to the members. As for future plans the cooperative aims to install in the cooling centre heat treatment and packaging equipment.
The Board members also visited one female dairy farmer, Esther Njeri Gitundu, who is a member of the dairy co-operative. She has been trained by ICRAF to act as a volunteer farmer who can deliver relevant information to her neighbors about better agricultural practices and new plants as cattle fodder and for human diet. The farmer considered the volunteer farmer training as a useful method for small-scale farmers to improve their living standard through better agricultural practices.
Text: Hannu Korhonen, Luke
Photos: Hannu Korhonen & Peter Kuria Githinji