Kenya: Milk scarcity hits butter consumers as processors suspend production

The Livestock department has attributed the shortage of butter that has hit households and the hospitality industry to a scarcity of milk, which has seen processors abandon production. Livestock principal secretary Harry Kimtai said the shortage in supply of raw milk saw dairy farms give priority to the processing of milk as they suspended other high-value products such as butter and ghee. There has been an outcry by consumers over the shortage of the two, which has seen Kenya rely on imported butter, mainly from Turkey and the Middle East to meet local needs. The shortage has pushed the cost of imported butter up significantly with a half-kilo packet retailing at Sh900 from Sh700 previously. Local butter was selling at Sh650 for the same quantity when it was in abundant supply. Read: Farmers reap big as milk prices hit record high “We must have enough milk to produce other different products, processors gave preference to milk because of the shortage, and they had to make sure ...