A litre of milk now costs as much as Sh85 in several Nairobi estates, and President William Ruto’s answer to the squeeze is to look beyond the cow. “We need to diversify our source of milk, from camels, sheep, goats and even from buffaloes,” he told an audience Friday, drawing laughter when he got to buffaloes. For households watching the price climb, it wasn’t a laughing matter.
A Daily Nation spot check found milk selling for Sh85 a litre in Kasarani, Githurai, Zimmerman, Kayole, Buruburu and Embakasi. In Zimmerman, the price had been Sh75 before the shortage. The increases have appeared at some supermarkets and milk ATM dispensers in residential estates, outlets many city families rely on for daily purchases.
Ruto said drought had cut cow’s milk supplies by hitting production. Speaking at the close of the three-day Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit 2026 at Jamhuri Showgrounds in Nairobi, he directed Principal Secretary for Livestock Development Jonathan Mueke to fast-track the search for improved camel breeds to boost output.
Who Pays, Who Earns
The price pressure at the till sits alongside a separate squeeze on the farmers who produce the milk. Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe played down claims of a shortage, describing the situation as a decline in supply, and said farmers receive different prices depending on the cooperatives and processors they supply. Some earn between Sh50 and Sh53 per litre. Others get up to Sh55. Kagwe said efficient cooperative management and fair returns to farmers are needed.
The gap is plain. Nairobi shoppers pay up to Sh85 while producers see Sh50 to Sh55. Ruto acknowledged part of the problem on the farm side. Dairy-industry reforms, including changes at the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC), are meant to improve earnings and ensure timely payments. “Farmers shouldn’t have to wait two or three months to receive their money,” he said.
Kagwe said the government would keep engaging dairy cooperatives and processors to address challenges in the sector.
Camels, Pastoralists and Public Investment
Ruto said expanding camel milk production would require investment in pastoralist communities, which have the animals and traditional knowledge to support the value chain. Camel milk is traditionally associated with arid and semi-arid land areas, but it also has a market in urban centres, Nairobi included. He said pastoralists need support to improve production and connect with those urban markets, and that the government would explore ways to improve livestock breeds and diversify milk sources.
The president credited government interventions, including subsidised fertiliser, for lifting national milk production over the past three years from 4.5 billion litres to 5.5 billion litres, making Kenya Africa’s largest milk producer. In tea, he said production rose by 50 million kilogrammes, and payments for green leaf climbed from an average of Sh16 per kilogramme three years ago to about Sh30 this year. The government has mobilised Sh1.55 billion to modernise selected tea factories, with Sh850 million available for further improvements aimed at raising efficiency and reducing disparities in farmers’ earnings.
Ruto also announced approval of 50 acres at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone for the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to build a tea value-addition facility targeting higher-value products and export markets. Another Sh100 million went to Kenya Tea Packers to modernise its processing.
Markets Lag Behind Production
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki, vice-chairperson of the Council of Governors, said subsidies on fertiliser, certified seeds and artificial insemination had boosted production but created problems in some areas, where markets and processing capacity struggled to absorb the growing output. “We need to strengthen markets, processing and value addition so that increased production translates into better incomes for farmers,” he said. He urged the government to implement the AgriConnect Compact without delay, saying timely financing is critical.
Qimiao Fan, the World Bank’s Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda, made a similar point. “Boosting agricultural production alone won’t deliver transformation unless it is accompanied by improvements in transport, energy, processing, finance and market access,” he said. The bank is in advanced talks with the Kenyan government on a multi-year, multisector programme covering farming, agribusiness, irrigation, rural roads, research, extension services and digital infrastructure.
More than 10,000 farmers, officials, county leaders, private sector players and development partners attended the summit, themed around food sovereignty, job creation and shared prosperity.
Why This Matters: Milk is a household staple. When a litre jumps from Sh75 to Sh85, low-income urban families feel it first. Meanwhile, farmers producing it are paid Sh50 to Sh55 and, as Ruto himself conceded, sometimes wait two or three months for their money. The summit’s speakers, from a county governor to the World Bank, said production gains mean little without processing, transport and market access that put money in farmers’ pockets. The government’s reforms and investments, from KCC changes to the tea facility at Dongo Kundu, will be judged by whether they narrow the gap between what consumers pay and what producers earn, and whether pastoralist communities get the public investment Ruto says camel milk requires.