Dairy farmers to be paid Sh65 a litre from this month, Ruto says
The President made the pledge in his Mashujaa Day speech, saying the farm-gate price had already risen from Sh35 to Sh60.
Based on reporting by Kenyans.co.ke and The Eastleigh Voice (full speech).
Sahiwal cattle in Kenya. File photo, 2026. Photo: Tish Madesh / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
President William Ruto says dairy farmers will be paid Sh65 for every litre of milk from this month. He made the announcement in his Mashujaa Day speech at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret on Tuesday.
Ruto said the price paid to farmers had risen from Sh35 to Sh60 a litre and that national milk production had grown by one billion litres. He also promised a bonus of Sh2 a litre. Published versions of the speech differ on how often it will be paid: Kenyans.co.ke quoted it as every quarter, while the speech text published by The Eastleigh Voice says every month.
The speech did not say who will pay the new price or how it will be applied across processors and cooperatives.
Milk taken in by processors passed one billion litres for the first time in 2025, up 11.5% on 2024, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics' Economic Survey 2026 as reported by Kenyans.co.ke. Consumers have faced a shortage and higher shop prices in recent weeks, which farmers blame on high feed costs.
Days earlier, Ruto announced plans to let each of New KCC's eight factories run on its own and supply its region directly, which the government says should ease shortages.
