The County Government of Uasin Gishu has called on the leadership of dairy farmers’ cooperative societies to mobilize their members towards increasing milk volumes through bulking in order to strengthen their bargaining power in the market.

Speaking on Wednesday during the training of Moiben Sub-County dairy cooperative leaders organized by Ketha Africa, County Director for Cooperatives Drucilla Cherogony underscored the importance of building trust among farmers through digitization of cooperative records.

Cherogony noted that through proper record keeping and transparency, cooperatives can enhance accountability and foster confidence among their members, enabling them to collectively realize better returns.

“Milk bulking provides farmers with a strong voice when negotiating with processors. By digitizing records and enhancing transparency, we can ensure effective management and fair benefit distribution,” said Cherogony.

Ketha Africa, a digital platform connecting farmers, cooperatives, and processors, enables farmers to receive upfront payments from processors.

Munyi Nthigah, Executive Director at Ketha Africa, said the AgriTech firm is working to transform agriculture in Africa by digitizing various value chains and promoting sustainable financing models.

“As a company, we are revolutionizing agriculture by digitizing small-scale farming, providing access to payments and lending, and introducing data-driven decision-making,” said Nthigah.

He added that the platform brings together small-scale farmers, aggregators, processors, financial institutions, insurance providers, and agricultural advisory services, creating a holistic ecosystem to support agricultural growth.

On his part, Director for Cooperative Audit, Mr. Samuel Wambugu emphasized the need for societies to produce regular economic reports to gauge their progress. He encouraged cooperative leaders to adopt automation for better management and alignment of opportunities and programs.

The county government continues to work closely with partners in the cooperative sector to enhance productivity, transparency, and economic empowerment among dairy farmers across Uasin Gishu County.