Sirikwa Dairies

Est 2010

Our Story

Established in 2010, Sirikwa dairies and general PCL is among the leading farmer owned companies with over 6,000 members located in Uasin Gishu County and Kakamega counties. The key activities undertaken by Sirikwa Dairies include collection (or bulking) of milk from farmers, cooling and marketing of milk from farmers to fetch better prices to enhance income (The company bulks, chills and markets on average 12,000 kilograms of high quality milk products to the market). Further, Sirikwa dairy undertakes Capacity Building (extension services) to farmers to improve both farmer participation and productivity in dairy farming. The company’s registered main office is located in Ziwa town 45 Kms to the west of Eldoret town through University of Eldoret. With time the company has expanded and opened up branches in Kiplombe (Uasin gishu county) and Likuyani (Kakamega county). Sirikwa collects milk from Uasin gishu, Kakamega, Elgeyo marakwet and Transzoia counties. Through the years, the company has taken pride in the quality of their dairy products and services, and the way they do business. With over 20 partners who have strong interest and influence in the company operations, Sirikwa dairies is proud of the unique business hub model, based on solidarity, partnership and the pooling of resources. This model is a powerful tool for generating and sharing wealth among members. The company’s other major operations include provision of input services which include animal health coverage, breeding, supply of cattle feed, fodder development, clean milk production and extension services to producers. Our main goal is to improve the living standards and the overall human development conditions through improved incomes and access to high quality milk. This has guaranteed farmers sustainable livelihoods. History of Sirikwa Dairy Sirikwa Dairies Milk cooling plant factory was officially opened by Hon.Dr. Muhammed Kuti on 18th December 2012 , Minister for Livestock and Development.

Our Analysis

As a result of in-depth analysis of market opportunities for high-quality, chilled milk in Sirikwa (Uasin Gishu District) Kenya, the East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) partner TechnoServe concluded that the proposed construction of a dairy chilling plant (CP) in Sirikwa is a commercially viable strategy. The core business of the proposed plant will be bulking and selling fresh, high-quality chilled milk. The primary product will be fresh, chilled milk sold to well-established milk processors, such as Brookside and New Kenya Co-operatives Creamery (NKCC). The cooling plant will meet Sirikwa Dairy farmers’ need for a reliable and organized milk marketing system that ensures sustainable income streams and spurs further development in the dairy sub-sector. The Company also offers small-scale dairy farmers of the Sirikwa Dairy Farmers Business Association (DFBA) the opportunity to become a competitive, profitable producer within the formal Kenyan dairy industry that generates around KSH 77 million in revenue per year. The cooling plant will be farmer owned (initially, a minimum of 10% farmer ownership) and provide smallholder farmers an opportunity to own equity and share in future profits in the form of dividends and bonuses. Independent farmers (neither shareholders in the chilling plant DFBA nor members of a dairy cooperative) in the area are also expected to sell milk to Sirikwa Dairies and receive additional bonus payments. A crucial aspect to the future growth and ultimate success of Sirikwa Dairies is that it operates as a hub of dairy-related, business services – seeds, fertilizers, feeds, artificial insemination (AI), veterinary services, and financial services (especially credit). This strategy will help build farmer loyalty and bring value-added services to dairy farmers, which will increase on-farm productivity and milk volumes. Although some of the five or more active cooperatives and self-help groups under Sirikwa Dairies umbrella operate an agro-vet services store and provides services on credit to farmers, there are no businesses in Sirikwa that unite all of these services into one efficient organization. The urge to establish Sirikwa Dairies was as a result of increasing poverty levels in the locality that made it difficult for majority of the farmers to raise enough funds to cater for basic needs such as food, education and health as well as practice productive and sustainable farming. Overall, farmers have pooled together to ensure attainment of high standards of living as envisioned in the Vision 2030. In addition, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) such as eradication of extreme hunger and poverty, improved education levels, improve children and mothers health, improved environmental conservation and partnering with others to promote development.. Sirikwa launched a major confidence building campaign in the area because the dairy industry in the area had deteriorated following the collapse of KCC in the late 90’s. Brokers, hawkers and other service providers entered the market providing poor services to farmers and underpaying them for their milk. However, Sirikwa is a high potential, estimated at about 30,000 litres per day milk producing area with a long history of dairy farming.