The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has offered Sh2.3 billion to the Kenyan government to scale up smallholder dairy commercialisation programme in the country.
Principal Secretary, State Department of Livestock Dr Andrew Tuimur said the programme that had elapsed in the first phase plans to kick off again.
Tuimur said dairy farmers benefited tremendously from the first programme that was funded to the tune of Sh1.7 billion.
He said milk productivity increased during the programme period that also saw an increase in income and job creation.
Speaking on Friday in Kisumu during a meeting with livestock officers drawn from nine counties targeted in the programme, Tuimur said the government’s aim is to ensure farmers are uplifted.
“There are better plans to uplift the livelihood of our farmers, what we need is close the working relationship with farmers,” he said.
He said the main goal of the programme is to increase the income of the poor rural households that depend substantially on production and trade of dairy and their products for their livelihoods.
Tuimur said the second phase will scale out its outreach from 25 to 333 sub counties across its nine counties of intervention with an estimated dairy farmer population of 560,817.