Soy beans are processed and made into products including soy milk. Photo coutesy.

A value addition self-help group in Nakuru is assisting smallholder farmers diversify their income with the practice of extracting milk from soya beans to make soyamilk being among its most successful venture which is now earning each farmer at least Sh30,000 every month.

Reuben Ng’ang’a like any other small scale farmer could only think of rearing chicken, planting maize and other cereals in his two acre piece of land. But a visit to Edgewood Value Addition self-help group changed his perception of farming changed making him realize the untapped potential of crops like soya bean and the fortunes that lay in adding value to them.

"My land was hardly enough to keep dairy cows and other livestock, so I sought alternatives to reap maximum benefits from the farm" said Ng'ang'a.

The farmer says after the trip to the group, all he could think about was how he could invest in making soya milk. Since then, the crop has changed his life. The farming project started with two kilogrammes of soya seeds bought from the former Kenya Agricultural Research Institute.

"We bought the two kilogrammes at a cost of Sh300. We were advised to buy Nyala and Gazelle that produce best milk," Ng'ang'a said.

From the two kilogrammes, Ng'ang'a harvested 90 kilogrammes after seven months. Since he started farming soya, he no longer buys cow milk for his household.

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He also used the by-products to feed and treat his animals. For his family consumption, Ng'ang'a uses half a kilo of soya beans to produce two litres of milk.

"Half a kilo soya costs Sh50 hence it is economical because I can get two litres. The same amount of cow milk costs Sh70," Ng'ang'a says.

The extracted milk is sold at Sh30-40 per litre, but Ng'ang'a. The only problem is they cannot produce enough to meet the demand.

Ng'ang'a says the dry season which starts in January to March is their busiest because demand is high since feeding cows during that period is expensive.

"The period has insufficient animal fodder hence low milk production which forces farmers and residents to use soya milk," Ng'ang'a said.

He also produces cooking fat, flour, ugali, soya beverage. "I have been growing various crops in my piece of land ranging from sweet potatoes, cassava bananas, and various fruits and due to small size of the land, but value addition the secret to prosperity.”

Cassava, bananas and sweet potatoes are dried and crushed to make flour, which he sells to the locals to earn a living. Ng'ang'a said his children are healthy and rarely fall sick because they consume soya milk and other plants grown under organic farming.

 "This value addition farming has improved my life to educate and pro-vide for my family and also purchase a prime plot therefore I do not regret joining it," Ng'ang'a said.

He regrets that he and the rest of the group are unable to meet the demand. "We have missed several contracts from supermarkets and other institutions due to low production as we use traditional method of extraction," he said.

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The group is looking to raise Sh300,000 to buy an extraction plant. Low temperatures also hinder growth of soya in the area limiting their harvest to once a year rather than twice like in areas with high temperatures.

To market their produce, farmers have embraced a door-to-door marketing strategy, media and attending numerous agricultural exhibitions in the last three years.

The group expects a Sh100,000 grant from the Njaa Marufuku programme, an initiative established in 2005 under the Ministry of Agriculture to boost small-scale farming. "The Ministry of Agriculture has supported us through training and funding," Ng'ang'a said.

The beans are soaked in hot water for 15-30 minutes to make removal of the coat easy. "It is not advisable to soak the soya bean in cold water because it produces bad smell which will change the quality of milk," Ng'ang'a said.

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The group uses traditional way of crushing the beans using a tree trunk with a hole at the middle (mortar) using a metal bar (pestle).

"The crushed soya is mixed with hot water. The amount of water added determines the quality of milk. If someone re-quires thick milk, less water is added and vice versa but one should careful not to dilute it too much," Ng'ang'a said.

The final stage is to squeeze and sieve the mixture with a clean white cotton cloth. The milk is then boiled for preservation.

With a herd of cattle producing tens of litres of milk and large swathes of lushy green fields, Laban Talam has become an icon in his village and beyond for producing more with little, a venture that has enabled him build a biogas facility for cooking and lighting within his homestead.

He has been an ordinary farmer. Having started off on modest grounds with only one cattle whose milk production could only sustain home consumption Laban’s story read like that of thousands of dairy farmers in the country. Poor milk production, cattle diseases and prohibitive prices of commercial feeds. 

Talam relied on napier grass as the feed for his cow which he complemented with high protein commercial dairy meal like maize and wheat bran, cotton seed cake, soybean meal and fish meal to bolster milk production.

However, that would be short lived as the volatile commercial feeds hit their unprecedented levels in recent years reaching over Sh2600 for a 90kg bag up from Sh1500 an year earlier. “And I could only feed my one cow for a week with this. I knew I was finished I couldn’t manage to cough over Sh10,000 a month on just one cow when I had other competing needs for the family. I was prepared to sell it,” recalls Talam.

His light bulb moment however came when a friend introduced him to unique fodder shrubs known to increase milk production.  With nothing to loose he bought the first packet and planted the shrubs which after three months were ready for harvesting. The shrubs have become testament to how alternative feeds can turn around the dwindling fortunes of small-scale dairy farmers, boxed in by the effects of climate change and spiralling input costs.

“It only took me two months before my fortunes turned. I was getting 3 litres of milk previously but the shrubs now increased the milk production up to 9 litres. I could now even manage to get milk for subsistence and more to sell. I have never looked back,” says Talam.

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Talam who now owns 10 cows gets over 80 litres of milk a day which he supplies to Kabiyet Dairies Company Limited. The dairy company has been established to cater for the ballooning supply of milk from the area thanks to the milk shrubs.

With assistance from his petite wife Miriam and his 10 year old son, Talam also supplies milk to local schools, health centres and yoghurt shops. While delivery to the Diary Company fetches him Sh30 per litre, health centres and schools buy at Sh32 a litre. “This was the sole reason why I never wanted to supply all the milk to the diary company. I have learnt and perfected the art of spreading risks,” Talam said.

Talam is now among the major shareholders the Kabiyet Dairy company which has introduced a share scheme where farmers supplying the milk to the chilling plant buy shares in the company which allow them to access credit facilities and get free veterinary services.

A share in the dairy company costs Sh100 and Laban owns 3,000 shares only second to Derrick Rono, the farmer with the highest number of shares at 5,000. “My aim is to be the biggest shareholder because I have seen the potential of the share scheme. I have started various projects in my area like construction and expanding the acreage under farming due to easier access to credit facilities from the dairy company,” he says.

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Laban has managed to create a biogas facility that generates gas for cooking. Installed two years ago at a tune of Sh50, 000, the facility is enough to sustain the family all year round with cooking gas and light in an area that is not connected to the national grid.

The modest model has seen fellow farmers flock his farm to catch a glimpse of the project and learn of its benefit.

But what has catapulted Talam to national and international stardom is the use of his farm as a demonstration farm for farmers on better livestock management. Farmers from the expansive Nandi County meet in Talam’s farm for learning lessons.

With the help of officials from the East African Dairy Development EADD a company that has chaperoned the use of fodder shrubs to increase milk production in Rift valley, farmers are taken through the theoretical aspect of livestock keeping before going full throttle with the practicals.

Talam has been appointed as one of the extension officers who educate fellow farmers. Says he, “We introduce them to the concept of fodder shrub farming, show them how to plant them and when to plant them, how to feed them to their livestock and eventually how livestock respond to being fed by fodder shrubs. We also teach them how to preserve fodder in case they over harvest for up to six months through underground preservation.”

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Talam has been appointed by EADD and the ministry of Agriculture to offer extension services to fellow farmers. He has undergone a rigorous three months training services which allow him to also offer veterinary and artificial insemination services. His farm receives on average 150 farmers in a week.

It is this success in dairy farming that once saw US billionare Bill Gates visit his farm as part of Bill and Melinda Gates foundation where Gates was visiting successful dairy farmers. Talam has since addressed scholars, agricultural experts and other professionals on the success of his dairy farming venture.

“My hope one day is to open my own chilling plant and become one of the biggest supplies of milk to cooperative creameries in the country. The past has been promising and the future looks equally bright,its no longer a matter of if but when,” concludes Talam.