The Happy Cow Story: Keeping milk fresh, incomes up and farmers thriving

© GIZ-ABF: Rahab Wambui, a member of Subuku Cooperative Dairy in Nakuru County, tending to her cattle on her farm

Across Kenya, dairy farming supports over 1.8 million rural households. Every morning, farmers rise with the sun, tending to their cows and hoping their milk reaches families across the country. But for years, lack of proper cooling meant milk spoiled before reaching the market, costing farmers their income and hard work.

Through an innovative partnership between Happy Cow Dairy and GIZ’s Agri-Business Facility for Africa (ABF), solar-powered milk chilling solutions are changing that reality.

Innovative solutions for fresh milk
For Happy Cow Dairy, fresh milk begins with the smallholder farmer. Across the dairy value chain, the company relies heavily on cooperatives made up of small-scale farmers who deliver milk daily, often under challenging conditions. Ensuring that this milk remains fresh from the point of collection is not only a quality issue but also a livelihoods issue.

Joyce Kinyanjui, Project Manager at Happy Cow, is leading the initiative that uses renewable energy and instant milk chilling to strengthen this vital link between farmers, cooperatives, and the processor. Through the Matching Grant Fund (MGF), the company is supporting dairy cooperatives that supply milk to the company to install solar panels, ice banks and instant milk chillers-technologies designed to ensure that every drop of milk stays fresh.

“Through the Matching Grant Fund, we are helping cooperatives install solar panels, ice banks and instant milk chillers so that every drop of milk stays fresh,” she explains.

Once milk is delivered to the cooperative, solar-powered pre-cooling technology allows it to be cooled immediately from room temperature to four degrees Celsius. This rapid cooling preserves quality, prevents spoilage and ensures that milk remains in excellent condition by the time it reaches Happy Cow for processing. Faster collection and reliable chilling mean that farmers can deliver milk with confidence, knowing it will not be rejected due to quality loss.

The benefits extend well beyond milk quality. By using solar energy instead of expensive grid electricity, cooperatives have reduced their production and operating costs by up to 50 percent. These savings are passed on to farmers through better milk prices, timely payments, and improved cooperative services, directly supporting smallholder livelihoods

“I’m proud when I see farmers improve their lives after working with us. It’s incredibly rewarding to witness their growth,” reflects Patrick Mbai, Quality Officer at Subuku Cooperative Dairy

Empowering farmers and boosting communities
In Nakuru County, Rahab Wambui, a smallholder dairy farmer, is living proof of this transformation. “The cooperative has helped me get to where I am today. “I’ve been able to build cow sheds, grow my farm, and provide for my family,” she says proudly.

The impact goes beyond milk production. Through training programs offered by consortium partner Fooster Solutions, over 200 people, including 37% women and 67% youth, have gained skills to improve milk quality and production.

Entrepreneurs like Josphine Wairimu are also benefiting from the initiative. Her yogurt business has grown significantly, creating jobs and contributing to the local economy. Starting small, she gradually increased production and now employs ten workers, each playing a role in the community’s growing prosperity.

In partnership with GIZ-ABF, Happy Cow Dairy and its consortium partners are rewriting the story of spoiled milk. Today, waste is down, incomes are up and every glass of milk tells a story of hope, resilience and positive change.

Watch the success story video of Happy Cow Dairy here:

This initiative is supported through the Matching Grant Fund (MGF), as part of the Joint Action “Business Support Facility for Resilient Agricultural Value Chains”, co-funded by the European Union under the Samoa Agreement with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ.