Kenyan Dairy COOPs Grow Their Businesses Thanks to ILO Support

Starting in 2007, the International Labour Organization began providing grants to co-operatives in eight African nations through its COOPAfrica Challenge Fund facility, funded mostly by the UK’s Department for International Development and the government of Finland, allowing for a total of USD 3.7 million in grant disbursements to date. Kenya has been one of the largest recipients, benefitting from USD 1.3 million for a total of 28 projects from 2008 to 2010.

One sector where a clear impact can be observed is the dairy farming industry. Above is a collection of images from two dairy farmers co-operatives in Kenya who received grants of about $50,000 each. Limuru Dairy Farmers Co-operative Society in Kiambu district used the grant to launch its own animal feed processing plant, and Wamunyu Farmers Co-operative Society in Machakos district acquired two cooling facilities to store freshly delivered milk.

Click here to see the corresponding article I wrote for the ILO on their website.