Mrs. Hadija Kolde is the Chairperson of Garsen Milk Supply group. Garsen was formed in 2010 and recently received a grant through the USAID-funded Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Program (KDLDP) to expand their small business.The group is comprised of nine female and six male pastoralists who trade milk and milk products to sustain their livelihoods.

According to Hadija, the members used to sell their milk individually. The milk would often spoil before the end of the day due to lack of basic milk handling, cooling and hygiene skills. After receiving training, provided by KDLDP in 2010, Hadija and the other members decided to form a collective milk collection and processing enterprise to capitalize on their new milk handling skills.

“With the few resources we had, we bought milk processing and packaging materials and borrowed other equipment that we could not afford. Our area Chief was impressed with our idea and allowed us to use one of his rooms to conduct our business. Since we did not have cooling facilities, we approached a local hotel to allow us to use their refrigerator for cooling our milk products such as yoghurt,” Hadija says.

Three officials from the Garsen group were trained in business management and milk hygiene and processing.  As they still had the challenge of up-scaling their business, the group applied for grant from KDLDP in 2011, to purchase the necessary equipment they needed to expand their services.

“Thanks to KDLDP, we now have a better place to operate, keep proper financial records, and minimize milk wastage. We are able to sell our products at higher price; which has improved our household income. We now employ two of our own members on a daily basis to conduct our business,” says Hadija.

The group obtains raw fresh milk from the outskirts of the town and thanks to better cooling and transporting techniques they learned through the training; they are able to sell their finished product at higher prices than unprocessed fresh milk.