Farmers contracted by milk processor Brookside Dairy have been paid Sh218 million in the half-year to May, under a scheme that rewards producers for milk quality and surpassing supply targets.
The latest payout, which represents a 53.5 percent jump over the previous year’s, will benefit dairy groups and individual farmers across the country who signed up for the programme and have been supplying raw milk to Brookside during the six months between December 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.
“The beneficiary farmer groups and individual suppliers signed up for our reward scheme and were given raw milk supply targets, for both quantity and quality. We are rewarding these farmers as a recognition of their hard work over the six-month period,” Emmanuel Kabaki, Brookside’s General Manager for milk procurement said.
The farmer reward scheme was pioneered by Brookside six years ago as it sought to appreciate the critical role raw milk suppliers play in the upstream phase of the dairy value chain. The payout has been appreciating over the years, as the processor’s base of contracted farmers continues to expand.
“The reward further cements our excellent working relationship with all our 160,000 raw milk suppliers across the country. It has boosted the supply of high-quality milk, thus enabling us to tap into a larger share of high-value products,” Mr. Kabaki added.
Thousands of dairy farmers have benefited from Brookside’s extension services, which include field day training and the use of demonstration farms to showcase best practices in the dairy enterprise.
The processor has also been working with farmers to establish fodder for dairy cows, besides working on breed genetic improvement through support with semen straws. It has also been engaging farmers in afforestation initiatives, to ensure sustainable dairy production through increased tree cover.
