Operational Sustainability of Milk Processing Plants in Murang’a County

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine operational sustainability of milk processing plants in Murang’a County. The study was focused on two specific objectives; to establish factors influencing the operational sustainability of milk processing plants in Murang’a County; and to establish the influence of “One family One Cow” Program on operational sustainability of milk processing in Murang’a County. The study adopted a case study approach, which emphasizes on details that provide valuable information for problem solving and evaluation of strategies adopted. The target population for the study was the dairy premises licensed by Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) within Murang’a County. Primary data for the study was collected through structured personal interviews. The respondents were composed of proprietors and managers of dairy processing firms and farmers’ Co-operative Societies operating cooling plants. The study targeted 30 firms’ and two respondents from each licensed firm making 60 respondents. The researcher achieved a response rate of 85% in interviewing the targeted respondents. Content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data collected through the interview guides. The study found that product and service design, continuous business process improvement, facility location, capacity planning, and management of supplies had an influence on operational sustainability of milk processing plants. The study also noted the importance of maintaining good relationship with the farmers in ensuring reliable supply of raw milk. Additionally, the study found that the “One Family One Cow” program did not contribute to a notable increase in supply of raw milk. However, the programme helped the county government to promote dairy farming as a viable business thus leading to increase in raw milk production. The study recommended that the county government should upscale the effort of encouraging milk bulking and cooling to improve on quality, reduce post-harvest losses and ease the logistics of collecting raw milk. Members of the public ought to be sensitised on the dangers of consuming unpasteurized milk; the county government should invest on fair weather roads to ease the transportation of farm produce and further studies should be carried out on the research topic focusing on other counties since this study was limited to Murang’a County.