Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day 2025: from milk to market

This year, as we celebrate Micro-, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, AVSI shares a story about how working with farmers and young people can help small businesses grow step by step. 

Small businesses play a big role in local communities. They create jobs, bring income to families, and give women, young people, and vulnerable groups a chance to improve their lives. Their size makes it easier for them to adjust to local needs and find new ways of doing things.

In Kenya, AVSI supports farmers’ groups and cooperatives using a method called the value chain approach. This means helping all parts of the process—from production to sales—work better together.

A good example is Kiracha Dairy Cooperative Society in Tharaka Nithi County. 

Kiracha started in 2016 with only 18 farmers. They came together to sell their milk as a group so they could get better prices. In 2019, they officially registered as a cooperative, which helped them reach more farmers and improve their services. Today, the cooperative has over 1,068 members and sends 5,700 litres of milk every day to Mt. Kenya Milk for processing. 

In 2023, Kiracha Dairy Cooperative Society joined the Economic Recovery to the Impact of Covid-19 on Agri-Food Value Chain in Kenya project run by AVSI and E4Impact Foundation, with support from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The project supports 15,000 farmers within 30 dairy cooperatives across Meru, Embu, and Tharaka Nithi Counties to enhance the quality of their dairy products, farm management, and cooperative follow-ups. 

James Rugendo, the 35-year-old manager of Kiracha, says this support made a real difference. 

By teaching farmers to place an insemination straw in warm water—where it should float if it's good—they were able to avoid fake service providers and improve animal breeding. As a result, milk production per cow increased from 6 litres to 12 litres. 

Across the entire project, 2,498 farmers received silage maize seeds and were trained on how to prepare silage and feed their cows correctly. 1,200 cooperative leaders have also learned how to manage their finances better, make plans, and set up clear policies to guide their work, leveraging also on the computers and printers they received that eased their work. 

James is not only the cooperative manager—he also runs a small dairy farm himself. After losing his job in the hotel industry during COVID-19, he joined Kiracha. Today, he delivers 35 litres of milk a day from his own cows. The money has helped him open a cybercafé and an agrovet. 

Kiracha Dairy Cooperative Society is also helping other young people. So far, it has supported 116 youth to get loans for their farms by acting as a guarantor. They have even encouraged parents to give their children small pieces of land to start farming. About 15% of the young people supported are women, many of whom are farming for the first time. 

Kiracha Dairy Cooperative Society is now preparing to add value to the milk it collects. With the 2.5 million matching grants awarded through the project, it will soon start processing yoghurts and fermented milk which will bring in extra income for the cooperative. 

Every morning, aluminium milk cans line up outside the Kiracha collection center. Young people, women, and men work side by side—checking quality, recording data, and preparing for delivery. It’s a sign that with the right support, small businesses can take steps forward, one day at a time. 

Kiracha Dairy Cooperative Society shows that with the right training, equipment, and encouragement, farmers and young people can build stronger businesses. They don’t have to do it all at once—but every good step counts. 

As we mark Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, AVSI Foundation remains committed to supporting cooperatives and small businesses so that more communities can improve their livelihoods and plan for the future. 

The theme, “Enhancing the Role of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises as Drivers of Sustainable Growth and Innovation,” presents a timely opportunity to highlight the contribution of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to inclusive growth and sustainable development, while calling for the financial investment, policy support, and enabling environment they need to succeed.