President William Ruto declared that the farmgate price for milk will rise to KSh 65 per litre, up from the current KSh 60, with the change taking effect in October 2026.

Under the revised scheme, dairy producers will earn an extra KSh 2 per litre, accumulated each month and paid out to them on a quarterly basis.

Ruto also pledged to settle KSh 400 million in outstanding payments owed to dairy farmers before the end of October 2026, aiming to ease cash‑flow pressures on suppliers.

The announcements were made during the President’s Mashujaa Day address in Eldoret, a region where New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (New KCC) plays a central role in the dairy value chain.

Ruto highlighted that farmgate prices have climbed from KSh 35 to KSh 60 per litre in recent years, while national milk output has expanded by roughly one billion litres over the same period.

The government outlined a restructuring plan for New KCC that would give individual processing plants greater operational autonomy and ownership by local farmer groups rather than central management.

According to the proposal, the new model should lower transport costs, improve milk collection efficiency and reduce reliance on the Nairobi facility for nationwide distribution.

Over the past three years, the state has injected KSh 8 billion into New KCC to stabilise its operations and support sector growth.