A dairy partnership providing better nutrition to BoP consumers

About the partnership

Kenya

Animal Production Related

Status:

Active

This partnership intends to increase milk supply from active small-holder farmers (SHFs), and mobilize more suppliers, through an incentive model. It aims to work with 70,000 SHFs to supply Meru Dairy Union with 500,000 litres of milk per day in the next 3.5 years. From that quantity, Meru Dairy Union will make products to serve around 83,000 consumers out of which 50,000 will be BoP consumers. In addition to increasing farm productivity and output, the partnership aspires to streamline the final product distribution system to make it more effective and efficient.

About the business champion

Meru Dairy Union (MDU) was registered under the Co-operatives Act in Kenya in 1967. It is owned by 53 primary cooperatives with a total 53,000 active members. In the last seven months of 2019, MDU was receiving 221,000-250,000 litres of milk per day against an installed processing capacity of 500,000 litres per day. It processes and markets milk products under its brand name ‘Mount Kenya’. The products are pasteurized milk, yoghurt, ghee and unpacked products. MDU sells its products in Kenya. They use different channels to reach consumers who include BoP consumers in Nairobi and other towns.

Key interventions

Facilitating reliable access to high quality protein

Supporting farmers to increase quality milk production

Facilitating MDU and partners to access affordable finance