About 15km from Nairobi’s central business district at the border of Nairobi and Kiambu County along Thika Supper Highway sits Githurai 45 Estate (also known as Githurai Kimbo), an area with a mixture of slums and suburbs.
Off the superhighway as you go towards Kiriri Women’s University of Science and Technology about 9km away you arrive at Mwihoko area. Here, the atmosphere starts to change with sounds of farm animals, chicken, goats, sheep and cows filling the area besides a view of backyard vegetable gardens.
It is at this area where one, Robert Macharia Kinyua, bought a 40 x 60 feet piece of plot years back to live with family but would soon engage in the currently lucrative dairy goat venture in Kenya.
The farmer currently has 38 German Alpine dairy goats breed, several Saanen (the Swiss goat breed) among others. The goats produce 23 -30 litres of milk daily which he sells locally at Ksh200 a litre raking him Ksh5,000 a day thanks to the nutrition value of the dairy product making it sought after by many especially those under medication.
According to a 2012 research by Rebecca Jerop on Dairy Goat Milk Consumption in Siaya County, Kenya for Egerton University, goat milk is superior to cow milk and its proteins and amino acids are more digestible and absorbed efficiently making it best for people on medication such as HIV/AIDS victims.
How he started
Macharia first worked with COMTECH Telecommunication Corporation before being retrenched in 2011 rendering him jobless something to him was a way to learn on other sources of income other than employment.
“I cannot say I was disappointed when my job ended rather it was like a wakeup call that through this I would know other beneficial activities to venture in for a honest living,” said the 39 years old farmer.
He therefore used his Ksh20,000 savings to buy German Alpine dairy goat breed from a farmer in Embu who was rearing the goats. This was to help his family get nutritious milk even as he embarked on hustling for other daily needs.
Soon the goat would get pregnant and the family’s only source of milk was halted forcing Macharia to spend Ksh18,000 from his hustling to buy another lactating Alpine goat.
The move saw him ran out of his small savings and in 2014 when SportPesa, a sports betting platform in Kenya announced a job for a driver, Macharia applied and was fortunate to get the employment.
“I could earn Sh25,000 per month as my starting salary. This would later be increased to Sh45,000 per month making it a good source of income for a struggling farmer like me,” he said.
In May 2017 he resigned from the job to embark to his farming as he wanted to concentrate on his dairy goat venture which was now picking up given the goats had multiplied by giving birth to more kids.
“I wanted to do my own thing as I had a bigger vision of making dairy goat farming a lucrative venture in the area,” said the Kiambu County’s Githurai 45 farmer.
Production
Today Macharia has over 50 dairy goats which are all of German Alpine breed feeding them on dry matter and silage which helps him preserve green fodder for use in future.
“I am an urban farmer who is not easily accessed to local fodder that’s why I opt for dry matter and silage. At times I hire a truck to Naivasha at a cost of Sh20,000 per trip to purchase hay and grass which they also feed well. One trip has 200 bales that feed the goats for six months,” he said.
Out of the 50 goats, the farmer is currently milking 14 which give an average of 25 litres of milk per day. He sells a litre of milk at Sh200 to his customers, mostly on medical prescription from a doctor to take goat milk for their health.
“In a single day I can rake not less than Sh5,000 from the milk sales and sometimes I run out of stock due to many orders from my customers,” said Macharia.
It is out of this high demand that in August 2017 he registered his farm, Mwihoko Dairy Goat Farm situated at Mwihoko as a way to authoritatively train farmers and bring together other young people in dairy goat farming to meet the production demand.
According to a 2011 case study by Juliah Wanjiru Kinyua on Factors Influencing Productivity of Dairy Goats in Laikipia for the University of Nairobi, with human population projected to reach 58 million by 2030 in Kenya, the total milk demand projects to 12.76 billion litres.
He also earns a good amount by selling the goats whose price is determined by age. A 2-6 months old dairy goat fetches Ksh15,000 while a 6-10 months old fetches Kshs. 20,000.
You have to part with Ksh25,000 to get 10 months to a one-year-old dairy goat from Macharia. For a 1 year to 14 months old you need Ksh30,000 while a goat in the first lactation goes for Ksh40,000.
The most expensive one is a goat in its third lactation period which fetches Ksh50,000 and above.
He charges Ksh500 for farm visit and Ksh1000 for training aspiring farmers and enthusiast.
Love for goats
What is now keeping him progressing is that he loves goats and loves dairy goat farming.
“I am inspired because I love farming and it is what keeps my family going and pays for my children’s education,” said the father of five.
He has been recognized thrice in 2016, 2017 and 2022 at the Nairobi International Trade Fair as the best dairy goat breeder and the best production on goats.
His main focus now is how he can grow the business to help eradicate poverty in the surrounding society by helping others who want to start off in dairy goat farming with proper advice and training.
“As compared to other forms of livestock keeping, dairy goat farming requires minimal space with goat products having good returns, consumes less time and have available and ready market.”
Besides Mwihoko Dairy Goat Farm, Kinyua runs Mwihoko Garbage Collectors, a garbage collection company which has 15 employees.
Challenges
He, however, cites a myriad of challenges among them lack of enough qualified and trusted veterinary officers.
“I have encountered veterinary officers who appear like they are not sure of what they are doing which has led to loss of some goats,” said Macharia.
Another challenge according to him is the poor quality of animal feeds in the market which he says lowers production.
[…] from around the world have done, Kinyua looked to Europe for his dairy goats, according to the story. His German Alpine and Saanen goats produce 23 to 30 liters of milk per day, which he typically […]
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