Kenya Bans Raw Milk Hawking as Kagwe Warns Millions Are Drinking Untraceable, Unsafe Milk

The Kenyan government has launched a sweeping crackdown on the unregulated sale of raw milk, declaring milk hawking a public health hazard and a serious drag on the country’s dairy industry.

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe delivered the warning during the flagging off of 25 bulk milk coolers at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, calling on brokers and informal traders to exit the raw milk business immediately.

“Milk hawking must stop. It is dangerous, it is a health issue, and it destroys the ability to create value-added dairy products,” CS Kagwe declared.

Public Health Warning at the Heart of the Crackdown

CS Kagwe made clear that the stakes go beyond industry economics. Millions of Kenyans, he warned, consume milk that authorities cannot trace, test, or certify as safe, leaving families and especially young children exposed to contamination and disease.

“If you have young children, feed them quality and traceable milk to avoid health issues such as diarrhea,” he said.

The statement signals a significant policy shift as the government tightens its grip on Kenya’s dairy sector, which informal traders operating outside regulated systems currently dominate. Under the new reforms, processors and cooperatives must build stronger traceability systems, tracking individual farmers, their output levels, and the source of every liter that reaches the market.

CS Kagwe further accused milk-hawking networks of causing broader economic harm. He argued that informal brokers undermine processors, weaken cooperatives, and cut farmers off from better earnings that come from processed dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, and milk powder.

230 Milk Coolers and a Ksh. 1.43 Billion Investment

The crackdown runs alongside the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development’s rollout of 230 milk coolers across the country, backed by a Ksh 1.43 billion dairy support program. The government has already deployed 95 units, with the remaining coolers set to reach dairy cooperatives nationwide in structured phases.

The ministry says the coolers will reduce spoilage, stabilize market prices, and draw farmers away from hawkers toward organized and regulated collection systems, creating a more reliable and profitable supply chain from farm to processor.

Kenya Eyes Global Dairy Markets

CS Kagwe framed the reforms as part of a much larger ambition. Kenya, already Africa’s largest milk producer, should not settle for regional dominance, he argued. The government wants to build a dairy system capable of exporting milk powder and insulating farmers from the price volatility that comes with seasonal production swings.

“We want to make sure there is no milk pricing coming down. Rain seasons and dry seasons should not destabilize farmers,” he said.

To reduce production costs, the government plans to encourage local cultivation of yellow maize and soybeans for animal feed through state-supported land leasing programs. The ministry is also accelerating dairy genetics reforms through a subsidized sexed semen program, cutting the cost from Ksh. 9,000 down to Ksh. 1,000 per unit, a move officials say will rapidly increase the number of high-quality dairy cows across the country.

Animal Welfare Gets a Mention Too

CS Kagwe also took aim at poor animal welfare practices, criticizing farmers who keep cows in cramped and neglected conditions.

“Some farmers put cows in prison. The way we treat cows matters,” he said.

The government expects thousands of new jobs to emerge around milk cooling, transport, veterinary services, and dairy processing as the reforms take hold.

Officials are clear that the war on milk hawking is not simply an enforcement exercise. The administration’s broader goal is to restructure Kenya’s entire dairy economy around quality, traceability, and long-term farmer profitability, replacing a fragmented informal system with one that works for farmers, consumers, and the country’s export ambitions alike.

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