KIAMBU, JULY 6, 2018 (CISA)– The Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi has launched a KSh 20 Million milk project in Kiambu County to help dairy farmers get better returns for their products.
The project, which targets about 2,000 dairy farmers from the different regions of the county, is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) in partnership with Caritas Italiana, CELIM Milan Non-Governmental Organization and Caritas Nairobi.
Speaking at the launch which took place during the third Annual Caritas Nairobi Farmers Day held at the Limuru Archdiocesan Farm, John Cardinal Njue assured of the Archdioces’ commitment in improving dairy farming and farmer productivity at micro level as guided by this year’s theme; “Sustainable Dairy Value Chain Development.”
“The milk project will assist the farmers not only to increase the volume of milk they produce but also to enable the farmers in the process and also market the milk,” said the cardinal.
The project which involves construction of a milk processing factory in Limuru will see dairy farmers improve their returns from selling milk and other milk products. The factory will also buy milk from other farmers across the country.
The cardinal further advised farmers to embrace new technological innovations, which will help to increase food production and for efficient storage of food to be used during drought.
“Farmers must not relax. They must feed the world. They must research and come up with strategies that will enable them to produce more food that can be sold, stored and used during drought,” he said.
This year’s event was attended by over 1, 300 farmers. The Annual Farmers’ Day is a knowledge exchange activity where farmers get to learn about new developments on agricultural practices.
Carinal Njue was accompanied by Caritas director Sister Mary Mbaci, Catholic Relief Services representative Lane Bunkers and Caritas official Michael Mungai.
