PROUDLY KIAMBAA

ISSUE No. 1AUGUST - DECEMBER 2015PROUDLYKIAMBAAHIDDENTREASURESMr. Nyaga’s Journeyfrom the Classroomto the FarmSHINING INTHE FARMJohn Kiarie’sJourney toFinancial FreedomTHE VALUEADDITIONJOURNEY

FirstWordOn behalf of KiambaaDairy Farmers’ CooperativeSocietymanagement and leadership,I humbly welcome youto our inaugural The DafinaTimes.We know and appreciate thepower of communicationand believe that information ispower; hence The Dafina Times.This magazine, published twicea year, will be a tool of engagementbetween the management and you, ourstakeholders. Contained herein will be board andmanagement communications, model farm interviews, notices andannouncements as well as other emerging issues in the dairy sector.It is an exciting period in the life and times of our society; producingthis magazine for the first time to our farmers. We are proud tohave interacted with you since the formation of the society morethan 50 years ago. We cannot tire from expressing our gratitudeto you for your continued support and prayers through all thoseyears. It is through this that we have witnessed accelerated growthand success beyond our expectations especially from 2010 so muchso that currently we are now comfortably chilling over 75% of ourtotal milk intake.In this first edition, the Manager will take you through the achievementsand successes that we have recorded over time especiallyfrom the year 2010. We will also inform you of the services availableto you and the strategic plan implementation milestones. We willalso chat with 3 of our farmers as they tell us what their ordinaryday looks and feels like. Our acting Quality Controller will take usthough a day in her work. As you read on, you will find that we haveendeavored to provide relevant information to you in a timely andconsistent manner.This is an issue overflowing with joy, hope and a great feeling offulfillment in the work of our hands.Read on…PERIS NJENGAChairlady04CONTENTSREGULARS2 First Word3 The Managers Statement3 The Value Addition JourneyMAIN FEATURE4 Hidden Treasures - Mr.Nyaga’s Journey from theClassroom to the Farm5 Shining in the Farm - JohnKiarie’s Journey to FinancialFreedomPROFILER6 ProfilerTHE GOVERNANCETAKE7 Governance & Individual TakeOn The Society05The Kiambaa Dairy Farmers Cooperative SocietyCopyright: The Kiambaa Dairy Farmers CooperativeSociety 2015Editorial BoardThe Kiambaa Dairy Farmers Cooperative SocietyConcept Design & Production:Brand Epressions LimitedAll rights reserved. Production, copying, ortransmission of this publication prohibited underKenyan and international intellectual property laws,unless under permission, or under the terms of anylicense permitting limited copying issued under theCopyright Act of 2001. Any person who copies orotherwise reproduces any paragraph or content ofthis book without authorization may be liable tocriminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.First published in 2015E-mail: info@kiambaadairy.co.kebarn@brandexpressions.co.keWeb: www.brandexpressions.co.ke+254 720 149 925Printed and manufactured in KenyaListenUnderstandExecute2 ISSUE No. 01 AUGUST - DECEMBER 2015

The Manager’s StatementKiambaa Dairy Farmers CooperativeSociety has recorded acceleratedgrowth from 2010 where we arenow comfortably chilling and storingover 15,000 litres of milk daily; translatinginto over 75% of our daily collectionof 18, 000 litres daily. As a result of this,we have assured quality which in returnhas translated in the current customerretention as well as new customer orientation.This has gone a long way inextensively expanding our raw chilledmilk market. Among the benefits thataccrue from this is stable and promptpayment. In a nutshell we have improvedfarmer payment from Ksh. 32 to Ksh. 38per litre, emerging as among the bestpaying in the region.We have also invested in value-additionwhere the Dafina Yoghurt is in its variousvariants recoding marked performanceevery day. The process from these activitieshave gladly enabled us to purchase a2-acre piece of land near Banana wherewe plan to set up a milk processing plantin the next two years.KIAMBAA BENEFITSBeing a Kiambaa member comes withits special benefits. We offer and delivervalue-added member developmentservices in areas including effectiveextension services where we train ourfarmers on improved modern dairyfarming techniques . We also take itupon ourselves to expose our farmers toas many modern and practical farmingforums as possible; hence exchange programmesand agri-tours to model farmsregionally most recently Kyalo farm inMachakos and Njoroge farm in Nyeri.At Kiambaa, we also seek to continuouslyempower our farmers financially; thisthough milk advances and recommendationto Kiambaa and K-UNITY Saccos.As a result, our members are reaping thefinancial benefits. We also provide ArtificialInsemination (A.I) services with theview to improving the farmers’ breed.This service is available upon request.As members, we are well aware that weneed to learn from others. That is why thesociety plans and provides for open dayswhere related service providers engagewith our members on insurance services,financing, making of bio gas, farm inputservices and other Agri-business topics.Truly, being a Kiambaa member reapsgreat benefits.1. OUR CORE VALUES• Transparency• Team work• Integrity• Purpose2. IN NUMBERS• 18, 000- dailycollection in litres• 15, 000- currentcooling and storagecapacity3. SERVICESDanielKinyanjuiNjengaManager• Extension services• Advance against milksupply• Credit facilities onfarm inputs• Artificial inseminationservices• Linkages withKiambaa & K-UNITYsaccos for loans.The Value Addition JourneyAt Kiambaa Dairy FarmersCooperative Society,we appreciate that weare operating under a verycompetitive business environment;failure to adopt leads toextinction.In a bid to stay relevant, we haveembarked on a deliberate valueaddition journey where we planon making Kiambaa relevantlocally and beyond.We take this opportunity tothank our members for continuously walking with us on this longand promising journey by voluntarily contributing plant sharesover the last 3 years. We also appreciate the assistance from thecounty government of Kiambu, technical business advice by Agriterraand technical advice on fodder management by SNV.Over the last 3 years, we have embarked on a deliberate brandingexercise where Dafina is being projected as the society’s identifier.Sales reports indicate that our Dafina Yoghurt brand in its variousvariants is doing exceptionallywell in Kiambu and neighbouringmarkets.Milk value addition is alsoanother aspect that KiambaaDairy has taken seriously. Earlierthis year, 2015 we invested instate of the art boiler and batchpasteurizer milk equipment.This means that we sell ourvalue-added product to institutionssuch as supermarkets andmilk bars in Kiambu and itsenvirons at competitive prices.Another milestone covered in this value addition journey is therecent acquisition of a 2-acre piece of land in Banana earlier thisyear. It is expected that the factory will be set up there in the nexttwo years. The factory’s capacity is expected to be 50,000 litres aday.Truly these are exciting times to be a Kiambaa member.THE OFFICIAL KIAMBAA DAIRY FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY MAGAZINE3

HiddenTreasuresMR. NYAGA’S JOURNEY FROMTHE CLASSROOM TO THE FARMEvery day more than 150 litres of milk leaves Mr. Nyaga’sfarm in Karura and heads down the road to Kiambaa DairyFarmers Cooperative Society’s bulking centre. This makeshim one of the top milk suppliers to the society. We met Mr.Nyaga to tells us his story and what benefits he reaps for his continuedmembership.Thank you for welcoming us into your home. Straight tothe business at hand, how long have you been a Kiambaafarmer?Karibu to my farm. Feel free to take a tour. I have been a Kiambaafarmer for as long as I can remember, maybe over 20 years. Mynumber is 1351; maybe that can tell you the exact time I have beenmember.Why Kiambaa?Maybe I need to tell you how I first found myself in Kiambaa. Iwas a member of another local dairy society where milk paymentswere sporadic as they were almost non-existent; we would go foras many as 8 months without getting paid yet we always deliveredmilk on time. After I left that society, I tried my hand at selling mymilk to hawkers. As with the previous society, the hawkers wouldnever pay on time but I would always deliver my milk to them.It got so worse that I would literally beg for payment. At aboutthat time I met with the late chairman of Kiambaa Dairy FarmersCooperative Society Mr. Geoffrey Njenga who informed me ofthe Society’s track record. I was impressed by the management,reliability in payment and great customer service. To cut the longstory short, I have never looked back.Have you always been a dairy farmer?Well, having grown up in the rural areas I always knew deep downI would be a farmer. However as it was the norm then, I had tohave a white collar job. I am a trained teacher up to Masters Leveland have taught in several schools including Thika School forthe Blind. My last job was a Curriculum Developer at the KenyaInstitute of Curriculum Development formerly known as KenyaInstitute of Education. During this time, I engaged in small scaledairy farming seeing that I had land. What I didn’t know then wasthat those small scale activities were laying foundation for myretirement. I cannot complain.What is the capacity of your farm now?Oh my goodness, at optimum level I should be producing morethan 300 litres dairy from the current 15 milking cows. I have a 50plus herd of both in-calf, heifers and milking cows.• Hold a Master’s Degreein Administration,CurriculumDevelopment andManagement• Started out with 4 cowsproducing 20 litres daily• Currently has a 50strong herd• Produces and deliversover 150 litres of milkdailyWhy is that?Well, every activity has its challenges. Chief among them is feeds& fodder. You see feeds & fodder are very expensive. Sometimesduring the dry season, accessing fodder becomes a nightmare.Also, sometimes the cows will be sick therefore reducing the dailyproduction.How has Kiambaa assisted in that?This is the good part. As I told you earlier, one of the reasons why Ihave stuck with Kiambaa this long is the excellent service delivery.Kiambaa Dairy has extension services. The extension officers herevisit our farms every so often helping us deal with animal husbandryand emerging issues, say if my cow is sick they will adviseme on the best course of action.Another thing that I find beneficial with Kiambaa is the availabilityof feeds. The stores have enough feeds for the farmers uponorder or request. For those who may not be able to pay cash, wehave credit facilities against milk supply. This assures that the cowwill continue producing quality milk at all time.What other benefits have you accrued from being a KiambaaFarmer?Countless benefits. Most important, Kiambaa is extremely promptin payment. I can assure you that by 10th of every month ourmoney is in the bank. Kiambaa dairy is actually one of the bestpaying cooperatives around. As a result of this, I have been ableto provide for my family and educate my children to the highestlevels possible. One of my children is actually a medical doctor. Ifdairy farming wasn’t profitable, I would not have gotten this far.The society is also at hand to offer advice and guidance on mattersof profitable dairy farming and reaping benefits out of otherdairy by-products e.g biogas. Every month, we are trained ongood animal husbandry practices as well as being exposed to otherrelated service providers. This really helps in managing our farmsand resources’.What does the future hold for you?The future is bright. With Kiambaa Dairy by my side, I can assureyou that this farm can only up its production capacity.What would you like to tell the other farmers, old andnew?For those that are already members of the Society, I would like tourge then to take advantage of the services on offer. Only this waywill they be able to reap maximum benefits. For those that are yetto join, I urge them to consider joining the society; clearly the benefitscarry the day.4 ISSUE No. 01 AUGUST - DECEMBER 2015

Shinning in the FarmJOHN KIARIE’S JOURNEY TO FINANCIAL FREEDOMAt just 28 years old, John Kiarie is a dairy entrepreneur toreckon with. With just two high yielding cows, he producesat least 27 litres per cow per day making him one the mostpromising young farmers under Kiambaa Dairy Farmers CooperativeSociety. John started his entrepreneurship journey back in2010 where he was engaged in rabbit rearing having 834 rabbits.He did so well in this field as he was to later emerge the best rabbitfarmer in Kiambu County. This was however not to last long as therabbit rearing business became too crowded prompting him to sellhis rabbits for an enviable Ksh. 350, 000.POOR INVESTMENT CHOICESHaving landed on so much unplanned money, John bought himselfa car for Ksh. 150,000. “All I wanted at that time was to owna car. He says “You should have seen me then, I was the envyof the young people in my village. What I didn’t know was howunplanned investments was to ruin my life. In the 8 months afterbuying the car, I had spent over Ksh.100,000 in repairs and maintenance.What a poor choice of investment! The only saving Imade from the sale of the rabbits was Ksh. 50,000.”CHANGE IN DIRECTIONFast forward to 2012, John’s mother who had been a subsistencedairy farmer gifted him with a bull with the view to jump startinghis life all over again. John used savings left over from thesale of the rabbits to feed and mature the bull for sale. He sold thesaid bull for Ksh. 40,000 which he used to buy 2 heifers whichat maturity used to produce about 6 litres each. The now maturecows eventually calved totaling his herd to 4. “As was the normthen, I engaged in the traditional dairy farming where I wouldspend so much yet get so little in return” he says “ I really did notlike that and was on the look out for any advice to help change thissituation.”Luckily for John, his wish was set to come true when he wasselected to attend the Njoroge farm tour in Nyeri. There, he sawfirst-hand what good dairy farming management can do. He alsogot to interact with experienced farmers who encouraged him totry his hand at modern dairy farming informing him of the endlesspossibilities opened up by this venture. There and then he decidedto invest in modern dairy farming. “Upon return, I immediatelysold 2 cows and 2 calves at 115,000 and bought a mature cow fromNyara estate at Ksh. 110,000.” He continues. “The cow was just twoweeks from delivery. That was the proudest day of my life.”THE KIAMBAA FACTORJohn immediately started milking the cow whose initial productionwas 9 litres. Still optimistic, he wanted to put into practicewhat he learnt from the Mukuruei-ini trip but was financiallyunable to. “This is where Kiambaa Dairy Sacco came in” Johnquips “I took a loan of Ksh. 15,000 against my milk deliveriesfrom Kiambaa Sacco which I used to buy a plastic tank, fodder,maize germ and molasses to make silage. Within 1 month ofimproved feeding the cow’s production shot to 14 litres inthe first month to 28 in the second then to 32 litres in threemonths. Now the cow had reached the best production levels.”While all this was happening, John was now thinking ofincreasing his heard. After careful consideration, he appliedfor a much bigger loan from Kiambaa Sacco. Seeing that hiscredit rating was going up and his milk deliveries were consistent,he applied and got a Ksh. 110,000 loan which he used tobuy another cow. Now he has two high yielders under his belt.By putting what he learns into practice, John goes for highquality semen with the view to getting good high yieldingbreed. This is why John invested in a Ksh. 14,000 semen fromKAGRC, Kabete. With this, he has assured himself a smallmanageable yet high yielding herd.THE BENEFITSJohn proudly says that dairy farming has changed his wayof life as a whole. When he started delivering milk to thesociety, the pay per litre was 32 shilling as compared to thecurrent 38 shillings per litre. He is now able to comfortablycater for his financial need as well as those of his parents. Hewas able to acquire a car and build his house within his parents’compound. Why, we ask? He says “All though the yearsthat I have been with Kiambaa Dairy, they have always madesure that we get timely advice on new and improved farmingmethods. This goes a long way in ensuring our animals are ingood health and at optimum production. . This is real financialimprovement to the farmer.”THE FUTUREWhat does the future hold for John? He intends to transformhis farm into a model farm in Kiambu County where otherfarmers will come in to learn both technical and practicalskills on dairy farming. He also plans on becoming a cowbreeder from where he will supply high quality breeds tofarmers across the county and eventually the country.Through all these stages and phases in development, KiambaaDairy will walk with John as he achieves his dreams of becominga renowned dairy farmer.THE OFFICIAL KIAMBAA DAIRY FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY MAGAZINE5

ProfilerMary MwihakiMary Mwihaki isthe acting QualityController forKiambaa Dairy CooperativeSociety Limited. She Joinedthe Society in 2014 as the assistantExtension Officer whereshe oversaw farm visits andfarmer trainings rising to thecurrent position. She tells uswhat her new post entails andwhy she loves working withthe Kiambaa farmer.So then what is Milk Quality Control?Milk quality control is the use of approved tests to ensure that themilk is fit for human consumption. This is only possible throughinstitution of a workable quality testing and assurance systemconforms to national or internationally acceptable standards.How does the quality control chain work?Milk is a highly perishable product which if not taken care of cancause untold suffering to the consumer. Quality control is thereforea through and through chain which starts at the farm, to themilk collection centers, dairy factories and finally to the consumer.All of the people involved in these stages must observe high standardsof hygiene while handling milk.What do you do at KiambaaDairy Farmers Cooperative Society?My main work here is to test and control the quality of milk.Milk testing and quality control is an essential component of anymilk processing industry whether small, medium or large scale.Milk being made up of 87% water is prone to adulteration byunscrupulous middlemen and unfaithful farm workers. Moreover,its high nutritive value makes it an ideal medium for therapid multiplication of bacteria, particularly under unhygienicproduction and storage at varying temperatures. We know that,in order for any processor to make good dairy products, goodquality raw materials are essential. A milk processor or handlerwill only be assured of the quality of raw milk if certain basicquality tests are carried out at various stages of transportationof milk from the producer to the processor and finally to theconsumer.What is your day in the Society like?My day starts very early. I have to be on the ground as we are collectingmilk from farmers so as to check on the quality of milk.Being part of a large team however makes these tasks enjoyable.What tests do you undertake to determine the quality ofmilk?There are several tests that assure the quality of milk. Amongthem is the Organoleptic test. Here no equipment is required, butthe milk grader must have good sense of sight, smell and taste. Theresult of the test is obtained instantly through observation.Then there is the Clot on Boiling (C.O.B) Test which looks forlevels of acids in the milk. Finally there is the quick and simpleAlcohol Test. It is based on instability of the proteins when thelevels of acid and/or rennet are increased and acted upon by thealcohol. These are among the many quality tests that we undertaketo determine and certify our milk is fit for human consumption.As the Acting Quality Controller in Kiambaa Dairy, whatdo you have to tell our farmers?I urge our farmers to ensure that they try their level best to retainthe quality of milk. This will ensure retention of our currentmarket, uptake of new markets which then means improved cashflow. When we have assured cash flow then the milk paymentsrates will improve right back to our farmers. What that means isthat we will be on the development forefront where the quality oflife in our locality improves.I am privileged to be a member of Kiambaa Dairy CooperativeSociety success story. I started my farming journey in 2006 aftermy mother-in-law gifted me with a milking cow. Back then, I usedto carry out my activities traditionally which would yield verylittle. At that point, the returns were very low then I saw no pointin taking care of my cow. Then I would traditionally feed my cow.Therefore, quality fodder, good husbandry was lacking.Sadly, wehad to sell the cow.My way of doing things was set to change when Mr. Mambounder Kiambaa Dairy extensively taught us how to take good careof our cows so as to get good returns. From these forums, I understoodthe value of maintaining good hygiene, good feeding habitsand balancing the feeds and fodder. As if by good luck, my motherhappily gave me a cow. This presented me with an opportunity toput into practice what our Extension Officers were teaching andtraining us on. Now we have an in-calf heifer from this cow and acalf. Her production currently stands at 20 litres daily.Women Empowermentin PracticeTHE KIAMBAA MODELJosphine Watiri Kiarie is a bubbling happy young mother ofthree, joyfully living her dream as a dairy farmer and memberof Kiambaa Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society. She is firstand foremost a mother and wife. She shares with us her joys andachievements in farming.The society has been instrumental in empowering its membersfinancially and technically much to our advancement more sothe female members. It is a requirement to operate a bank accountto be a member of the society. Throughout my engagement withKiambaa, I am in control of my finances and as such I am able totake care of my household bills, school fees for our children as wellas extend to fruit and vegetable farming. My family, my husbandespecially appreciates this as we are able to diversify our investmentsas opposed to relying on only one source of income.Financially independent women are an asset to the society asit becomes easier to partner with our husbands to build our families.I encourage my fellow women especially those that have landto engage in farming as its rewards are clearly visible both financiallyand on the family front.6 ISSUE No. 01 AUGUST - DECEMBER 2015

THE OFFICIAL KIAMBAA DAIRY FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY MAGAZINE7

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