Principal Secretary for Cooperatives Patrick Kiburi Kilemi held talks with the leadership of Bio Food Products Ltd as the government seeks to deepen partnerships aimed at improving the productivity, market access and competitiveness of Kenya’s dairy farmers.
Taking to his social media , Kilemi said he received a courtesy call from Joachim Westerveld, Chief Executive Officer of Bio Food Products Ltd, accompanied by Waithera Ng’ang’a, Group Director of Corporate Affairs at Bio Food Products Ltd and Highlands Drinks Ltd.
The discussions focused on opportunities to strengthen collaboration across the milk value chain, with emphasis on enhancing dairy farmers’ productivity, improving access to reliable markets, promoting value addition and strengthening the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of the dairy sector.
The engagement comes as the government continues to position cooperatives as a key vehicle for improving farmers’ bargaining power and ensuring producers receive better returns from their agricultural enterprises.
Kilemi has previously described the dairy value chain as central to the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda, noting that cooperatives have an important role to play in ensuring farmers benefit more from their production.
“Through Cooperatives, we are determined as a government to ensure farmers realise higher returns for their milk production,” Kilemi said during an earlier engagement with dairy cooperative leaders.
The latest meeting with Bio Foods comes against the backdrop of renewed government efforts to improve the dairy value chain through stronger producer organisations, better milk quality and expanded processing.
One of the major issues facing the sector is ensuring that increased milk production translates into better incomes for farmers. The government has increasingly advocated for stronger links between farmers, cooperatives and processors so that producers have dependable markets while processors receive consistent supplies of quality milk.
In recent months, the government has also intensified its focus on milk quality and value addition. The shift is aimed at moving the dairy industry beyond the production and sale of raw milk towards greater processing of products such as yoghurt, cheese, butter and other value-added dairy products.
For dairy farmers, such a transition could create additional opportunities to earn from improved quality and productivity rather than relying solely on increased volumes.
Bio Foods has established itself as one of Kenya’s dairy processors, with a business model that places considerable emphasis on milk quality and farmer development. The company works with farmers on issues including animal nutrition, hygiene, animal health and milk quality, while linking quality improvements to better returns.
The company has also continued to strengthen its operations. In March 2026, Bio Food Products appointed Jos Borger as General Manager with responsibility for the company’s performance, growth and day-to-day operations. The appointment came as the company pursued further growth and expansion.
Westerveld has meanwhile remained closely associated with the company’s growth and sustainability strategy. He has previously spoken about the importance of combining commercial performance with social and environmental sustainability within Kenya’s dairy industry.
The government’s interest in working with private processors such as Bio Foods is particularly significant because Kenya’s dairy industry requires stronger coordination between farmers, cooperatives, processors, regulators and markets.
Cooperatives provide an important link between smallholder farmers and processors by aggregating milk, facilitating access to services and strengthening farmers’ negotiating position. Stronger cooperative structures can also make it easier for farmers to access financing, extension services, inputs and modern dairy technologies.
The government has previously encouraged dairy cooperatives to embrace partnerships to protect farmers from unhealthy competition while improving access to markets.
The latest discussions therefore provide another opportunity to bring the cooperative movement and private dairy processors closer together.
For Bio Foods, stronger engagement with cooperatives could provide access to a more reliable supply of quality milk while giving farmers opportunities to participate more effectively in formal markets.
The discussions between Kilemi and Bio Foods could therefore contribute to a broader effort to build stronger links between cooperative societies and private processors.
As Kenya works to increase dairy productivity, stakeholders are increasingly looking beyond production volumes to issues such as milk quality, efficient collection, cold-chain infrastructure, processing capacity, market access and farmer incomes.
Author: Moureen Koech
Moureen Koech is a passionate Digital Journalist, an adept Agribusiness Writer with a keen eye for news and an impactful story-teller,whose stories provide key value to Agripreneurs and stakeholders in the Agricultural sector
