How Solar Cut Kigoro Dairy’s Power Bill and Increased Farmers’ Earnings

In Gatanga, a sub-county of Murang’a, the sun has long been essential for nurturing pastures in its subtropical highland climate—but now, it’s doing more than sustaining farms; it’s powering incomes.

In this mixed-farming region, dairy is a major livelihood.

Farmers here earn a living by selling milk to Kigoro Farmers Dairy Cooperative Society, a membership-based cooperative.

As you approach the dairy, the signs of an agricultural hub are unmistakable—motorbikes zip by, balancing stainless-steel milk cans one after another, while herds of cows graze along the roadside, a testament to the village’s deep roots in livestock farming.

A total of 1,665 farmers—most of them women and youth—transport and supply over 10,000 liters of fresh milk to the dairy daily.

But Kigoro Dairy was not always this busy. When it started in September 2015, only 115 farmers supplied milk.

As more farmers embraced the cooperative model, deliveries grew rapidly, milk production at the dairy increased—and so did the need for refrigeration, which became the dairy’s biggest energy consumer.

Milk must be chilled immediately after milking and kept cold in storage tanks, requiring powerful, round-the-clock refrigeration units.

Relying solely on grid electricity was proving costly.

“We used to pay between Ksh 300,000 and Ksh 350,000 in electricity bills every month,’’ says Rahab Waithera, the manager of Kigoro Dairy Cooperative Society. “This was eating into our accounts, and we knew it wasn’t sustainable in the long run.”

The high energy costs also affected farmers.

“We used to sell our milk here at Ksh 35 per liter,” says Lucy Nyambura Kabuchu, a farmer supplying milk to the dairy.

Ms. Kabuchu, who owns three Friesian cows and has been supplying between 30 to 35 liters of milk daily to the dairy since its inception ten years ago, says that since the dairy installed solar panels to power refrigeration, things have changed.

“Today, the dairy buys my milk at Ksh 45 per liter,” Kabuchu says.

According to the Kigoro Dairy manager, the incorporation of solar energy into the dairy’s operations has enabled them to increase the price of milk per liter collected from farmers.

“Our electricity bill has dropped by about 70%, and we now pay between Ksh 70,000 and Ksh 80,000 a month,” she says. “This allows us to channel more money into our members and farmer payouts.”

Maina Thiga, a board member at Kigoro Dairy Cooperative Society and a milk supplier, says that while they now enjoy solar-powered energy, the initial plan faced some resistance due to the high installation cost.

“The idea of installing solar made sense, but the biggest challenge was financing it. Setting up a solar system required Ksh 5 million—a figure that, at first, felt impossible for the dairy to raise,” Thiga says.

But after lengthy discussions, and thanks to the unity among members, the cooperative sat down and figured out a way to raise the initial investment.

“To fund the solar installation, we gathered our members and explained the long-term benefits,” Thiga says. “Farmers agreed to contribute, and through this collective commitment, we secured a Ksh 5 million loan.”

Each member now repays the loan through a monthly deduction of Ksh 600.

“We’ve faced many challenges getting this project up and running, but now that we have it, we’re enjoying power—at a much lower cost,” Thiga says.

The solar energy harvested at Kigoro Dairy is primarily used for pasteurization and cooling, according to Mr. Sammy Gichuhi, the technician in charge of the dairy’s solar system.

He says the solar panels power the cooling and processing machines, significantly cutting electricity costs.

“To keep track of power use, the system has a monitoring device linked to an app on the managers’ phones,” Gichuhi explains. “This way, we can check how much energy is used daily.”

However, while the solar system has greatly reduced costs, storage remains a challenge.

“Right now, we don’t have batteries to store extra power, so whatever is generated has to be used immediately,” Gichuhi says.

This challenge is even more pressing because Kigoro Farmers Dairy sits at the foot of Mount Kenya, where prolonged overcast periods limit solar generation.

“There are times when sunlight is scarce, and without storage, we can’t fully rely on solar alone,” Gichuhi adds.

But storage isn’t just a technical challenge—it’s also a financial one.

“Our research showed that each battery costs Ksh 340,000, and to support our 72-panel system, we would need ten,” says Maina Thiga.

This means Kigoro Dairy would need to raise Ksh 3.4 million to install a complete storage solution—an amount that requires careful financial planning.

For now, the priority is clearing the initial solar installation loan. Once that is settled, the dairy plans to expand the system to store even more solar energy.

Kigoro Dairy’s struggle to fund solar storage is not unique. Across the country and indeed the region, communities attempting similar transitions to renewable energy face a significant challenge: access to financing.

A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that Africa attracts less than 3% of all global energy spending, making it difficult for communities to scale up solar solutions.

As banks factor in climate risks, the Central Bank of Kenya is encouraging green finance through a classification system—known as a green finance taxonomy—to define what qualifies as an environmentally sustainable investment.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), structured green financing mechanisms not only make it easier for such projects to access lower-cost financing and attract investment but also ensure manageable and sustainable repayment while benefiting from supportive policies.

As global discussions on renewable energy financing continue, Kigoro Dairy is already making an impact with the resources it has.

Nthiga notes that other cooperatives looking to switch to solar should start by assessing their energy needs and financing options early.

“The biggest lesson we learned is that member contributions, though challenging at first, create ownership and commitment to the project,” he says. “If cooperatives can’t raise the full amount upfront, they should look into other financing options—such as cooperative-backed loans.”

His sentiment was echoed by the dairy manager who added that proper maintenance and monitoring are key to maximizing benefits.

“It’s not just about installing solar and forgetting about it,” Waithera says. “You need a system in place to track usage and savings, so you can plan for expansion, such as adding storage solutions to maximize solar use.”

Despite the financial hurdles, Kigoro Dairy’s shift to solar is already uplifting the community. At least 1,500 farmers and their families are benefiting from the initiative.

Every day, more farmers are transporting milk to the dairy—some carrying jerry cans by hand, others using motorcycles and even milk tanks—fueling economic activity in Gatanga village and its vibrant Gatura Shopping Centre, where value-added dairy products are sold.

Lower energy costs mean better earnings for farmers, enabling them to invest in further agribusiness ventures.

“I added another cow to my herd. I used to have two Friesians, now I have three,” says Ms. Kabuchu, adding that with better milk prices, she has diversified into poultry farming and can now easily buy hay and feed for her livestock.

She adds that other farmers, too, are making investments with their increased earnings from the cooperative.

Beyond solar-powered refrigeration, Kigoro Dairy has also installed water tanks to collect and store rainwater, ensuring a steady supply for milk cooling, equipment cleaning, and other essential operations.

The management says that this reduces reliance on unpredictable rainfall and costly water sources, helping to maintain milk quality even during dry seasons.

“There was a time when we struggled with high electricity bills and power outages,” she says. “But today, solar isn’t just an option—it’s how we keep going.”

This story was produced with the support of the African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME), in partnership with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.