Employment Generation in the Kenya Dairy Industry

This policy brief addresses the issue of employment generation in the Kenya dairy industry. 90% of dairy producing and marketing in Kenya is done by smallholders and informal sector traders, therefore it is important that their needs are taken into account in decision making process. Other key points are:

• The dairy industry is a significant source of employment in Kenya. At the farm level there are over 600,000 dairy households, generating an estimated 365,000 waged jobs in addition to the family labour involved.
  
• The processing and marketing of milk generates a further 40,000 jobs. Over 70% of these jobs are in the small-scale informal sector, which also employs a greater proportion of women.
  
• In addition to those directly employed there are many deriving indirect employment from the industry.
  
• Policies that encourage the efficient operation and development of both processed and raw milk markets will contribute to the job creation targets of the government.