Consumer prices of fresh cow milk have increased in Mangu ward following an acute shortage of the animals feeding commodities.
According to residents, the shortage has been as a result of the intense dry spell witnessed in the area in the last two weeks that wiped out green pasture for dairy cattle especially napier grass.
According to area livestock officer Anthony Gathua, a litre of fresh milk was retailing at Kshs. 39 up from Kshs. 27.
Though the area has been exporting milk to other wards, the officer says that the ward has not been able to improve its production from the dairy animals kept by the local farmer due to the lack of cow and goat feeds which he attributed to the dry spell.
Speaking from his office in Mang’u on Tuesday, the livestock officer revealed that he was out to start a program of buying farmers dairy cattle feeds to boost milk production in the area.
"I am about to start distributing animal feeds to farmers around through a subsidized program funded by Kiambu county. Only willing farmers will benefit from the distributed feeds," he said.
Gathua further encouraged farmers with indigenous cows to replace them with grade cows that are able to survive on a small piece of land through zero grazing.
He noted that it was uneconomical to keep a large stock of indigenous animals in Mangu area where land is becoming scarce.