Murang’a Dairy Farmers Want Feed Taxes Cut as Government Eyes Buffalo and Camel Milk

Dairy farmers in Gatanga, Murang’a County, are asking the government to first fix the problems they already face before bringing in new animals to boost milk production. Their message comes just as President William Ruto announces plans to import improved buffalo and camel breeds to help close Kenya’s milk shortage.

Speaking at the Agriculture and Food Security Summit at Jamuri Park on Friday, October 9, the President directed Agriculture Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke to make the importation happen. He pointed to India, where buffaloes are milked commercially, as an example of what Kenya could do. For many Kenyans, that sounds like good news, but it has also got people asking questions about how the plan will work and whether buffaloes will be treated as food animals.

For the farmers in Gatanga, though, the bigger worry is what is happening on their farms today. They say feeding their cows has become so expensive that little money is left after the bills are paid. Many of them feel they are working hard without seeing the profit that dairy farming should bring. Their request is simple: reduce the tax on animal feed. They believe cheaper feed would lower their costs, keep more of their earnings in their pockets, and help them get a fair price when they sell their milk.

The farmers also spoke at the launch of newly restored government milk coolers in Murang’a, where they raised another concern. They want the law changed so that milk processing companies cannot buy milk directly from individual farmers. Their argument is that when companies do this, they bypass the dairy cooperatives that farmers depend on, and that weakens the whole system. John Waweru, head of Coopertains Dairy Cooperatives, backed this position, saying that if milk comes from processors then buyers should purchase it through cooperatives, and the cooperatives should then deal with the farmers.

Nobody is saying the government’s plan is wrong. Milk shortage is a real problem in Kenya, and new breeds could help in the long run. But farmers say that growing the sector means little if the people already milking cows are struggling to survive. Cheaper feed, stronger cooperatives, and fair rules on who buys milk from whom would go a long way toward making dairy farming worth the effort.