CKL Africa Impacting Lives of Young Farmer Entrepreneurs in Githiga, Githunguri, Kiambu County

Transforming & Inspiring Farmer Lives!

Standing 5 feet 6 inches tall, dressed in a red t-shirt, black hoodie and faded blue jeans with black gumboots, 26-year-old George Kairu welcomes me home at Githiga B, Githunguri, Kiambu County, approximately 40km north of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Julian, Mrefu, Anna and Jane capture my immediate attention. George’s dairy cows, resting under the iron sheet-timbered cowshed. Each weighing about 575kg on average, with black and white coat. Beautiful to look at! His source of livelihood, hope and future!

Milking about 70 litres per day and taking home a net of about USD 500 on average, is a side hustle George wants to transition into full time work following what he describes as the darkest years of his life. “…I lost dad in 2017 to a heart attack and mum the following year to Cancer. I was heartbroken, confused and lost. George had just completed an accounting course from a local University in 2018.

To survive, George put his two feet into dairy farming with a triple role to play – father, mother and brother to his three sisters. Looking back two years on, he smiles. “… I have maintained 4 quality dairy cows and 4 calves. My milk production has increased and so has my net income. I have also acquired land in Nakuru County (134 km from Kiambu County) where I hope to do silage production and my family’s needs are met…,” he said.

Driving 2km from George’s home, I meet 35-year-old Leonard Mbugua who left for Qatar in 2016 only to come back 3 years later after serving as a security guard.  Like George, Leonard picked up dairy farming from his late father in 2020, with a history of low milk production. In early 2010 for instance, his father would milk 12 litres a day only, from his 10 cows. It is only recently that Leonard started using Maclik Super® and Maclik Mineral Brick® for his cows. “…I also used Maclik Dry Cow® on my pregnant cows which had stayed for over two years without calving. I thought one of the cows was too old to calve but, they all did!” exclaimed Leonard with a hearty laugh!

In less than two years, Leonard’s herd had grown from 10 to 15 healthy cows with an average milk production of 35 litres earning him a net revenue of USD 150, up from USD 40 two years ago! Leonard has mentored his uncle and four other referrals who come to witness the magic on his farm. With stable income from the milk, he now leases land to grow napier grass for his cows. He recently bought a pick-up truck to help run farm errands and sustains his wife and two children. “…Ng’ombe ni chumvi” (loosely translated to mean “quality cows come from quality mineral supplements)” he happily claims.

George and Leonard represent over 2 million small scale farmers whose contribution to the dairy sector in Kenya accounts for 14% of Kenya’s agricultural GDP. The two are among the 17,000 farmers registered with Githunguri Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society, one of Kenya’s biggest dairy operations. Through a diverse network of distributors, CKL avails products and knowledge to farmers including through cooperatives such as the one George and Leonard belong to. “…doing this in the shortest time possible to enable optimal farm productivity is my joy,” said Mr. Stephen Muriuki, CKL Head of Sales. To achieve this, Mr. Muriuki collaborates closely with CKL Strategic Business Partners, Stockists and CKL sales workforce. Starting as a stockist back in 1989, Dr. Lucy Karau, rose through the ranks to become a CKL Business Strategic Partner and proprietor of VAM Health Distributors. Leading a team of 30 staff, she exclusively sells CKL products to hundreds of stockists serving numerous routes in Kiambu county who then sells directly to farmers. “…my greatest inspiration is supplying quality products they can use on the farm to sustain themselves and their households, feed and educate their children as well as support their elderly members of the household…”, she said. 

CKL’s team offers agricultural extension services hence helping to solve farmer challenges on farm which are usually manifested in low farm productivity. “…I spotted George and Leonard on separate occasions while delivering milk to a milk cooling and collection centre. I could tell they were not sure of what products to pick for their cows. I managed to convince them to pick at least Maclik Super 2kgs for trial. I made a follow up with them at their farms for further mentorship. I am happy with the progress the two have made…” said John Kariuki, CKL, Territory Manager.

George and Leonard could not help but cite the high cost of CKL products, but nonetheless are committed to using them due to the value that they derive. “…I have sold Maclik® to different generations of farmers, some of whom have parents that used the product! It is a generational brand name known for quality and is a fast mover…” said Lucy Njeri, of SEPROS, one of the tens of thousands of CKL stockists in the country.

Raw materials that make up CKL products such as Maclik Super are sourced from multiple suppliers globally especially from China and UK. “…supplier availability, high costs of procurement due to disrupted global supply chains, fluctuating prices, and high costs of fuel…” said Mr. Gachuki Njuguna, CKL Head of Supply Chain, are attributing factors to increased cost of farm inputs. Upon reaching seaport in Mombasa and transported inland by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to the country’s Internal Container Depot in Nairobi, raw materials are moved to CKL’s Tatu Factory, with a capacity to produce 2 tons per hour of nutritional supplement product. “…We work closely with our Quality and Regulatory Assurance Department to ensure that all quality processes and controls are observed before the imported and locally sourced ingredients are approved to manufacture Maclik Super®…” observed Mr. Peter Njuguna, Warehouse Manager at the new CKL mineral plant at Tatu City. The factory produces several variants of mineral supplements (Maclik Super, Maclik Plus, Maclik Beef, Maclik Brick) of the highest quality and in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of the livestock farmer in Kenya and the East African region.

Passionate and fearless in life situations, George works hard each day to own a dairy farm like those he watches on YouTube from Denmark and The Netherlands. Leonard, now believes that there is money in the village. He is a full-time dairy farmer with desire to supply quality calves at his village thanks to artificial insemination knowledge and services he has come to learn through CKL. These are the kinds of dreams that inspire CKL to keep contributing daily towards.  Transforming and inspiring farmers’ lives! Dreams that make our waking up every day, more meaningful!

Written and compiled by Ms. Judy Munge, CKL Sustainability & Communications Manager. Photo Credits: Ms. Judy Munge.