Animal Production And Health Division
LESSONS IN DAIRY DEVELOPMENT – CASE STUDIES
A MEDIUM-SCALE DAIRY FARMER
Naivasha, Kenya. Mr.
Musyoka ventured into
dairying in 1985 as a milk
trader in Naivasha town,
opening the Musaka Dairy
Shop. He established
the business while still
working for government...
by HG Muriuki, Dairy Consultant
By 1987, inspired by a successful large-scale dairy farmer
nearby, and by his love for dairy, he retired from his clerical job
to set up his own dairy farm in a 50 acre farm he had bought, 10
km from Naivasha town. By 1988, Mr. Musyoka had a herd of 10
dairy cows.
Other motivating factors included confidence in his
entrepreneurship; he had “tasted milk money through the
dairy shop in Naivasha town and appreciated dairy enterprise
profitability”; and he wanted to supply his dairy shop in Naivasha
from his own farm. He had also been motivated and boosted his
confidence to start his own dairy farm after attending a three
week practical training course on dairy farm management at
Baraka Agricultural College.
The Musaka dairy farm is about 200 metres from the old
Naivasha–Nairobi highway. The farm has 22 mature dairy cattle
of which, 10 cows in milk, 6 are heifers, 5 are calves and one is a
mating bull.
The farm has its own borehole for water and is well served
with electricity. Although his motivation to acquire the farm was
to establish dairy, he grows vegetables, both for local and export
markets and food crops such as maize, beans and potatoes for
his household and the workers. Vegetable and crop growing takes
over half of the 50 acres farm. The dairy enterprise takes about
15 acres, i.e., 7 acres of pastures and grazing land and 9 acres
of fodder and dairy structures including cattle houses and farm
stores. The family homestead occupies about 5 acres.
Mr. Musyoka handed over the ownership and management
of his milk shop to his son in 2004 and concentrated his efforts
to the management the farm where he is assisted by a farm
manager, Mr. William Wambua Kitheko. He and his manager
receive dairy related technology and information from
extension services, especially from the Ministry of
Livestock and Fisheries and from the Kenya Dairy Board;
from workshops, field days, agricultural exhibitions; and
from extension manuals obtained from Extension service
providers. Mr. Musyoka says he also gets some technical
information from KARI, Naivasha and from neighbours. His
farm Manager, Mr. Kithoko, attended a feed formulation
course at Dairy Training institute in Naivasha in July 2006,
which he believes was very beneficial. He is now able to
make dairy rations and silage from the feed resource
available on the farm, and can also formulate mineral
supplement, all of which reduces his production costs.
Milk Production and Sales
From a herd of 22 head of dairy cattle, of which 10 are in
milk, he gets about 250 kg of milk a day. He sells about 200
kg to Musaka Dairy enterprise in Naivasha, his household
consumes about 2 kg, he gives 3 kg to his employees and
20 kg is on average consumed by the calves. He sells milk
to his son at Ksh.20 per kg.
Annual income from sale of milk alone is about Ksh.1.5
million. The farm also generates other cash income from
dairy related products including the sale of surplus forage,
manure and bull calves. Manure sales generates about
Ksh.6,000 a year, sale of surplus forage fetches about
Ksh.20,000 a year while sale of bull calves generates about
Ksh.30,000 a year.
Feeding and Cost of Production
The farm produces all the forage required for the herd
with surplus production which is sold. The forage include:
lucerne; maize and bean stalks; maize and lucerne silage;
lucern; left-overs from vegetables (french beans, baby corn
and others); and pastures. Over and above the forages, the
Musaka dairy herd consumes about 110 kg of dairy meal
per day and 10 kg of mineral salt a month.
The calculated cost of milk production from information
provided at the farm is about Ksh.11.75 per kg estimated
as follows:- 25 kg; (ii) increase the herd size from 22 head to 50 head
Labour1 Ksh. 8.00
Concentrate feed2 Ksh. 1.60
Breeding Ksh. 1.00
Drugs and dipping Ksh. 0.50
Utility and water Ksh. 0.30
Overheads and licenses Ksh. 0.40
Advantages of dairying
According to Mr. Musyoka, the dairy enterprise is “superior”
to his other farm enterprises as reflected in the annual
farm revenues. The annual income from dairy of Ksh.1.5
m compares to Ksh.600,000 from horticulture (export and
local vegetable sales).
1
The labour cost is on the higher side and differs with the norm where
feed is estimated to cost in the region of 80% of the production cost
2
The cost of forage is not included although some of it is captured in
the labour
The “advantages” of dairy enterprise over the other
agricultural enterprises include:-
• the dairy enterprise generates a continuous monthly
stream of income throughout the year;
• dairying is more profitable;
• the dairy business creates opportunities for social
interactions with peers and other people including the
elite in the society;
• profit from the dairy enterprise provides funds for the
start up of other enterprises.
The priority expenditure from dairy money is his childrens
education. Income from the dairy enterprise has been
utilized in his children’s education including sending some
of them abroad for further studies, and for broadening and
expanding his investments.
Establishment of the dairy enterprise and its expansion
has not had any known negative impact to his family.
Instead, it has improved the welfare through improved
family access to milk (ad lib) and increased income
to support household consumption budget and other
expenditures. Manure from the dairy enterprise is used on
crops and any excess is sold. Excess forage is also sold
and contributes to the profitability of the dairy.
Although he had initially perceived dairy as a risky
business as a result of need for constant source of water,
possibility of not obtaining permit/licenses for the business
and problem of getting good and reliable workers, he has
since changed his perception to dairy enterprise and sees
a bright future.
He has two permanent employees who earn Ksh. 15,000
each a month and hires on average four casual labourers
who earn Ksh. 100 daily.
The future
Mr. Musyoka believes he has been very successful in dairy
business, both as a trader (his initial dairy enterprise) and
as a dairy farmer. His future plans include to: (i) upgrade
his milking cows to raise productivity from an average
production of about 17 kg of milk per cow per day to over
(in 3 years); (iii) increase total milk sales from 250 kg a day
to 600 kg a day; (iv) construct an improved milking parlour;
and (v) purchase and install a 1,000 litres capacity cooler.