Brookside invests Sh112m in cooling tanks to reduce post-harvest milk losses

Brookside Dairy announced that it has acquired raw milk cooling tanks worth Sh112 million as part of its upstream value addition strategy.

Brookside Dairy is investing in expanded milk cooling infrastructure to increase the market reach for farmers' milk, targeting the higher supply volumes from smallholder farmers across the country.

The processor announced Thursday that it has acquired raw milk cooling tanks worth Sh112 million as part of its upstream value addition strategy.

The new tanks, with capacities of 10,000 and 5,000 litres, will be distributed to all key milk sheds as part of a strategy that Brookside says will cut post-harvest losses in the dairy enterprise.

"The new tanks will enhance maintenance of milk quality from the farm gates to the processing house in Ruiru," said Brookside general manager for milk procurement Emmanuel Kabaki in Ruiru.

"They will also lead to increased farmer income, and strengthening of rural economies through increased revenue from milk sold to us."

He said the new tanks also affirm Brookside's commitment to food safety.

"We are also investing in the tanks to reduce post-harvest losses incurred by farmers through milk spillage during transportation," Kabaki said.

Last month, the processor embarked on a youth empowerment programme by onboarding nearly 200 porters to enhance milk collection using motorbikes in key production sheds in the country.

"We are stationing the tanks in strategic locations where our milk porters will be filling them with farmers' milk. We are asking farmers to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance production as we have brought collection and cooling facilities closer to them," Kabaki said.

Brookside, the leading processor in the Kenyan market, has been carrying out aggressive capacity building programmes for its farmers across key raw milk production sheds, as it seeks to further grow the volumes supplied to it.

This year, more than 4,500 dairy farmers have benefited from Brookside's extension services, which include field day trainings and the use of demonstration farms to showcase best practice in the dairy enterprise.

"We are also strengthening the dairy value chain through adoption of sustainable environment practices," Kabaki said.

"We are addressing the challenge of seasonality in the dairy value chain through the building of water pans to enable farming communities to access water for their animals.

"The pans are rainwater harvesting structures which provide a reliable water source for livestock, domestic use as well as contributing to soil erosion control."

He added that the processor was also bolstering water availability through facilitation of plastic tanks to dairy farmers, which contribute to cost savings for farmers and enhancement of environmental sustainability.