We are excited to share a project we have been supporting since 2019, which is the development of a sustainable dairy supply chain in Kiambu County.

Agri Frontier carried out a feasibility study for Limuru Archdiocese Farm in 2019 that was commissioned by Missio Invest and supported by Caritas Nairobi, the development arm of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi. Up until this point the farm had mostly been in the business of refining and packaging spring water, and growing tea. This was supplemented by horticulture, dairy farming and forestry. 

Results from our study were used to commission the construction of a processing facility in Kiambu County, which would enable the business to make more profit through the value addition of milk processing, and as a result provide favourable prices to the farmers who supply the raw milk. The project was financed by a $475,000 loan from Missio Invest, an investor providing financing for entrepreneurial development initiatives operated by the Catholic Church”.

One of the key challenges observed during the exercise was insufficient supply of milk in the region. The business will leverage the current network of 2,700 smallholder farmers currently supported by Caritas Nairobi, enabling them to supply raw milk to the processing plant so that they are able to sell it to customers. Currently, 590 farmers in the region do this, but this number is expected to increase with the setup of the processing unit.

Construction is nearly complete, pending the installation of an electricity supply, after which testing will begin prior to commencing operations later this year. The facility is beautifully designed for its intended purpose and has state of the art equipment in place that is suited to the processing and marketing of milk in bulk.