Milking success: One cow, one dream, endless possibilities

Agnes Wanyaga gently wipes the udder of one of her Friesian cows before settling onto a low stool inside a clean milking parlour at her farm in Giachumi, Githunguri, Kiambu County. Dressed in gumboots and a green cap bearing the colours of the dairy cooperative where she delivers her milk, she is beginning the afternoon milking.

Before every milking session, she washes the udders and ensures each animal has enough water and fodder. Afterwards, she delivers the milk to a local cooperative collection centre about 500 metres from her home.

Her day starts long before sunrise. “By 4am, I am already in the cowshed preparing for the first milking. After milking, I clean the shed, feed the cows, provide water and then attend to my farm crops before returning for the second milking in the afternoon,” she says.

Today, Agnes keeps four dairy cows, producing between 40 and 50 litres of milk daily despite the rising cost of animal feed. Each cow produces an average of 15 litres a day. “A decade since I ventured into dairy farming, milk has given me a voice,” she says with a smile.

Before discovering dairy farming, Agnes relied on growing vegetables, including traditional ones. She still grows the vegetables, but dairy farming has become the backbone of her household economy. She ventured into dairy farming after watching farmers in her community whose lives had changed through milk production. “I saw women educating their children, paying school fees and improving their homes through dairy farming. I wanted that life too,” she recalls.