President William Ruto has directed the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries (New KCC) to buy milk from farmers at hiked prices of Ksh50 per litre from the current Ksh40.

Ruto, who spoke during the upgrade of New KCC in Nyahururu, Laikipia County, also directed that farmers should be paid their dues every 15 days.

“From July 1, farmers will be paid every 15 days. This is how we will eliminate milk hawking, which arises when farmers are not paid for two to three months,” Ruto said.

According to Ruto, the New KCC Nyahururu Factory will serve more than five counties, processing at least 150,000 litres of milk a day from the current 80,000 litres.

"The Government will make the New KCC more efficient, facilitate training, invest in value addition and secure lucrative markets that will offer better returns to milk farmers. This will ensure that we double our production to more than 10 billion litres a year to drive our growth," he stated.

The President also promised that the government will enhance farmers’ access to seasonal credit through the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC).

“The government has allocated AFC Ksh10 billion for this purpose,” he said.

Ruto assured farmers that they would get this season’s fertiliser on time at a subsidised price of Ksh2,500.

“Investing in agriculture is the best way to create wealth and expand opportunities for the people and reduce the cost of living and food,” Ruto said.