NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 13 – The Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the country’s dairy sector by improving milk production and safety standards.
The deal will combine ILRI’s research capacity with KDB’s regulatory mandate to drive growth, innovation, and sustainability across the dairy value chain.
The focus will include upgrading production, processing, and consumer awareness while empowering smallholder farmers and processors.
Kenya’s dairy industry produces 5.33 billion litres annually and contributes about 4.5 percent to GDP.
However, more than half of this milk is traded informally, supplying affordable nutrition while creating jobs for women and youth.
Formal markets account for just 20 percent of supply, through cooperatives, processors, and retailers.
KDB Acting Managing Director Dr. Kimutai Maritim said the collaboration would support Kenya’s ambition to double milk consumption by 2030 while ensuring growth is inclusive and sustainable.
ILRI Director General Appolinaire Djikeng noted that the partnership would bridge gaps between informal and formal markets, improve safety and quality standards, and scale innovations to boost farmer productivity.
The MoU builds on past collaboration under the MoreMilk 2 project, which showed how vendor-regulator partnerships can improve safety in informal settlements.
It will now expand to more counties, integrating genetics, feed innovations, and better production practices to raise output from 8 billion litres today to more than 18 billion litres by 2030 under Kenya’s Dairy Master Plan.
The pact also seeks to open export opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa while supporting the growth of value-added dairy products to strengthen Kenya’s regional competitiveness.
