Milk sold for as much as Sh85 a litre in six Nairobi estates, while some farmers received Sh50 to Sh53 per litre from cooperatives and processors. Figures presented at the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit 2026 placed retail costs and farm payments side by side. President William Ruto said drought had reduced cow’s milk supplies and called for production from camels, sheep, goats and buffaloes.
A Daily Nation spot check found prices of Sh85 a litre in Kasarani, Githurai, Zimmerman, Kayole, Buruburu and Embakasi. In Zimmerman, milk had sold for Sh75 before the shortage. Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe described the situation as a decline in supply, not a shortage.
Who receives the farm payment
At the summit’s close, Kagwe said farmers received different prices depending on the cooperatives and processors they supplied. Some received between Sh50 and Sh53 per litre; others received up to Sh55. He said cooperative management needed to be efficient, and farmers needed fair returns.
Ruto said reforms at the New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) aimed to improve farmers’ earnings and ensure timely payment for milk deliveries. “Farmers should not have to wait two or three months to receive their money,” he said. He added that efficient management of milk-processing facilities was essential to sustaining production and improving household incomes.
Ruto directed Principal Secretary for Livestock Development Jonathan Mueke to fast-track the search for improved camel breeds. He said increasing camel milk production would require investment in pastoralist communities, which have the animals and traditional knowledge to support the value chain. Camel milk, traditionally associated with arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) areas, also has a market in urban centres, including Nairobi.
Ruto said the government would explore ways to improve livestock breeds and diversify milk sources. Kagwe said the government would continue engaging dairy cooperatives and processors to address challenges affecting the sector.
Production and processing
Ruto attributed higher milk production over the past three years to government interventions, including subsidised fertiliser and efforts to improve productivity. He said national production had risen from 4.5 billion litres to 5.5 billion litres, making Kenya Africa’s largest milk producer.
Muthomi Njuki, Tharaka Nithi Governor and Council of Governors Vice-Chairperson, said increased production following subsidies on fertiliser, certified seeds and artificial insemination services had created problems in some areas, where markets and processing capacity struggled to absorb output. “We need to strengthen markets, processing and value addition so that increased production translates into better incomes for farmers,” Njuki said.
Ruto announced approval of 50 acres at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone for the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to establish a tea value-addition facility targeting higher-value products and export markets. The government had mobilised Sh1.55 billion to modernise selected tea factories, made another Sh850 million available for improvements, and provided Sh100 million to Kenya Tea Packers to modernise processing facilities.
Ruto said tea production had increased by 50 million kilogrammes and payments to tea farmers for green leaf had risen from an average of Sh16 per kilogramme three years ago to about Sh30 this year. He said the investments aimed to raise efficiency and reduce disparities in farmers’ earnings.
Public investment and private finance
More than 10,000 farmers, government officials, county leaders, private sector players and development partners attended the three-day summit at Jamhuri Showgrounds in Nairobi. Its theme was “Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation — Advancing Food Sovereignty, Job Creation, and Shared Prosperity under BETA.”
Qimiao Fan, World Bank Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda, said food-system transformation required sustained investment and stronger collaboration between government, development partners and private investors. He said the World Bank Group aimed to raise its global annual financing for farming and agribusiness to $9 billion by 2030 and mobilise an additional $5 billion from the private sector.
Fan said the bank was in advanced discussions with the Kenyan government on a multi-year, multisector programme proposing investment in farming, agribusiness, irrigation, rural roads, research, extension services and digital infrastructure. He said increased agricultural production alone wouldn’t deliver transformation without improvements in transport, energy, processing, finance and market access.
Ruto also said the government would protect public land reserved for fisheries development. He said all 41 fish landing sites along the Coast had been gazetted as government facilities, with planned support for boats, fishing equipment, fish cages and fingerlings. A marine centre of excellence now operates at the Coast National Polytechnic, following an investment of about Sh600 million.