John Ngirachu
9 January 2008
Nairobi — The dairy industry has been hard hit by the election violence with the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries losing Sh60 million in sales in the past 10 days alone.
New KCC managing director, Mr Francis Mwangi, said the lose is in terms of sales volumes.
The company's woes are threefold: Farmers cannot deliver milk to collection centres, the company cannot access the collection centres for those who deliver and the market has become inaccessible as a result of the violence that has affected parts of the Rift Valley.
The lack of furnace oil to operate dryers and boilers has also forced the company's operations to grind to a near halt.
Previously, the company was collecting and processing 400,000 litres of milk per day with current supply reduced by 50 per cent to 200,000 litres.
"This means that two million litres of milk have gone to waste over the last 10 days. At Sh20 per litre, farmers have lost Sh40 million for the 10 days. We have had to close eight of our factories in the Rift Valley; Sotik, Kapsabet, Lessos, Ainabkoi, Kilgoris and Eldama Ravine and Eldoret. The company operates two factories in Eldoret, one in Eldoret Town and the other in Sosiani and both have had to close" said Mr Mwangi in an interview with the Nation, Tuesday. Only the Kitale factory is operational in the North Rift.
Mr Mwangi said this is due to the relative calm in the area and the company's reserves of furnace oil, which has kept the factory going.
Corporate affairs manager, Ms Jane Mbuthia, added that there was uncertainty on the part of farmers who had taken loans pegged on their milk deliveries as they cannot service them now.
She said the company has donated milk to clash victims in Nandi Hills, Kapsabet, Eldoret, Jamhuri Park and Mathare in Nairobi.
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