Kenya: Business Services Market Development Project

Improving Incomes for Small Dairy Farmers

According to a survey conducted as part of CNFA’s Business Services Market Development Project (BSMDP) in Western Kenya, even though all divisions in the surveyed districts had at least four dairy input stockists, the majority were found in two large centers, with 66% of stockists either small or very small. This meant most rural areas had poor access to diary input stockists, who also did not have adequate supplies to serve farmers. Additionally, stockists are faced with a lack of capital to expand their businesses, few suppliers of inputs and poor knowledge on dairy farming by the local farmers.

With this in mind, BSMDP, a one-year initiative funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), focused on strengthening the delivery of daily inputs and veterinary services to smallholder dairy farmers in Kakamega and Butere-Mumias Districts of Western Province.

The main goal of BSMDP was to increase accessibility and affordability of dairy inputs and services by smallholder farmers and thereby improve productivity, incomes and food security. To accomplish this, the project:

  • Enhanced the technical and business management skills of stockists of dairy inputs; and
  • Promoted linkages by stockists to “embedded services” from input supply companies, covering training in product knowledge and use and demand creation, e.g., demonstrations with stockists, field days, and agricultural shows.


CNFA organized various training workshops, exhibitions, field days, and agricultural shows to demonstrate skills and technologies to stockists and farmers. The project had great success:

  • CNFA organized four business management training sessions, 36 technical training sessions by private sector companies, five farm visits (to help farmers learn about calf rearing, clean milk production, feeds and feeding, dry cow management and dairy cattle breeding), three field days, six exhibitions, and one agricultural show.
  • 332 stockists attended technical and business management trainings, demonstrations and exhibitions.
  • Over 10,000 farmers attended various training activities organized by CNFA, including exhibitions, technical training by private sector companies, field days, animal insemination demonstrations and farm visits.
  • 12 companies participated in various BSMDP training and demonstration activities.