Meet Vihiga Woman Making KSh 5k Daily From Dairy Farming

• Dairy farming is one of the agricultural sectors that provide livelihood to an estimated 1.8 million smallholder households in Kenya
• Margaret Ahona is one the smallholder dairy farmers in Vihiga county, earning an average of KSh 5,000 daily from milk sales
• In peak seasons, she milks up to 150 litres daily, and her farm, which she co-manages with her daughter, is used as a model in the area

TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto brings over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering deep insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.

According to a study by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Kenya's economy grew by 5.9% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023, buoyed by the recovery in the agriculture sector.

What is agriculture's contribution to Kenya's GDP?

The enhanced performance was attributed to favourable weather conditions.

KNBS noted that agriculture accounts for about 21.2% of the GDP.

Dairy farming is one of the agricultural sectors that provides livelihood to an estimated 1.8 million smallholder households, employing an estimated 750,000 people directly and 500,000 indirectly.

How much does a Vihiga farmer make from dairy?

Margaret Ahona is a smallholder dairy farmer in Vihiga county, earning an average of KSh 5,000 daily from milk sales.

Who Owns Kenya reported that her eight dairy cows yield more than 100 litres of milk daily. She sells the milk at KSh 50 per litre.

In peak seasons, she milks up to 150 litres daily.

Due to Margaret's success, other farmers use her farm as a model to teach upcoming dairy farmers.

After six years of dairy farming, she hopes to raise her herd to 100 dairy cows within five years.

“If we continue with breeding at the farm with each cow getting higher and superior pedigrees through Artificial Insemination (AI), we can get more animals and also increase milk production,” she explained.

Animal feed challenges

Access to quality and affordable feed is one of Margaret's challenges in her day-to-day activities.

The Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) revealed half of livestock feeds in the country failed quality tests.

Kenya produces 40% of the 55 million metric tonnes of feed required yearly for its cattle industry, leaving a large deficit.

About 46.3% of the available feed is lost to post-harvest losses.

Margaret appealed to the government to intervene to lower the cost of animal feeds.

"A bag of 90kg bag of dairy meal goes for about Ksh 3,600. Our biggest challenge as farmers is the price of feeds, and we hope as the government subsidises other farm inputs, it will also consider dairy feeds," she said.

Why Margaret runs the farm with her daughter

Margaret co-manages the farm with her daughter Edna Kaveza, a psychology bachelor's degree holder from Kenyatta University.

After completing her education, Kaveza spent years looking for a job in Nairobi, but her attempts were futile.

She was forced to rely on her friends and family to help her survive and pay her bills.

Following her failed attempts to find employment, Kaveza returned to her mother's farm in Emanda to co-manage it.

Following their investment, the two began going to training courses on the development of the dairy value chain and entrepreneurship.

How Meru graduate makes a kill from dairy

Elsewhere, a Meru graduate who started keeping cows as a student is reaping from dairy farming.

In an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke, Gordon Chui revealed he milks 155 to 175 litres daily, earning him over KSh 8,000.

Chui graduated with a diploma in Animal Health and Production in 2018. However, he decided not to look for a job related to the field as he was passionate about farming.

Proofreading by Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke