The milk plant that has flooded West Pokot with fortune

By Faith Rono

The Pokot region has for years been synonymous with tales of  bloody cross-border battles with its Marakwet neighbours over grazing land.

The vast semi-arid land also has a history of clashes with the Pokots in Karamoja, Uganda over livestock.

However, West Pokot County is now building a profile for its business opportunities as communities find a way to co-exist peacefully.

And Lelan Highland Dairy Ltd, a milk cooling plant located on the Cherangany Hills, nearly 70 kilometres from Kapenguria town, is the reason for the changing fortunes.

Pedigree

This area has been classified as part of arid and semi-arid land (Asal), yet temperatures remain moderate with a canopy of indigenous trees covering the hilly terrain.

The other striking thing in the area is the large number of modern pedigree breeds of Friesian dairy cows grazing calmly as residents transport yellow jerricans full of milk to Lelan Dairy using donkeys.

The plant was set up in 2008, after the Marakwet and Pokot communities agreed to invest in livestock to improve their livelihoods rather than engage in cattle rustling, Lelan’s board chairman Kenneth Lomaibong, told Business Beat.

In October that year, Lomaibong and other interested farmers began a cooperative society. Within a short time, they had 3,000 members and had contributed enough money to construct the plant.

“There was a bloody clash between us and the Marakwet community in 1998. That was a wakeup call to all of us to end the cattle rustling menace by working together to make money from livestock,” said Lomaibong.

“We began to sell our non-productive indigenous breeds of livestock to purchase milk-producing Friesian cows.”

Several companies expressed interest in buying milk from the plant, and after a competitive process, Brookside Dairy Company won the bid.

The cooling plant can hold 10,000 litres and was funded through a credit facility secured by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD).

Lomaibong said he knew the benefits of Friesian cows, but had a hard time convincing local herdsmen that shifting to the breed would make economic sense.

Average yields

However, after a short trial run, Fresians peppered the landscape.

Currently, farmers in the area realise average daily yields of between 20 and 30 litres of milk with this new breed, compared to the traditional Zebu that produces about three litres.

In 2009, the dairy plant received 624 litres of milk from farmers, which increased to 4,000 litres in 2010, 7,000 in 2011, and 13,000 last year.

So far this year, Lelan has received 14,000 litres.

Lomaibong attributes the increase in volume to the commitment that Brookside has shown the plant, especially in paying farmers on time and providing a market, coolers, compressors and trucks that ferry milk through the rough terrain to its processing plant in Ruiru.

“We have also attended various field days organised by Brookside Dairy where we get insights into improving milk production,” said Rose Jerop, a farmer at Lelan.

Brookside’s regional manager for procurement and extension, Mr Amos Mwasi, said the company came in to help the farmers who could not access markets for their produce due to the rocky terrain.

“Pokot and Marakwet regions have rich potential in terms of economic growth, but they need support from established organisations,” he said.

NEW OPORTUNITIES

In 2011, Brookside paid the 1,850 members who deliver milk to the cooling plant on a daily basis Sh4 million, which rose to Sh12 million in 2012. It has so far paid out Sh17 million this year.

And with the growth the cooling plant has brought, residents now have a Safaricom mast and electricity, which has given rise to many more businesses.