The program began with the training of its first group of 20 DDEs, who were engaged in a 10-week intensive training and on-farm traineeship program which is a combination of both classroom training and on-farm training. The first two-week training session focused on animal health and tick control, rainwater harvesting, farm planning and paddocking, silage and haymaking, feeding & nutrition as well as milking, milk quality, and herd administration.

Currently, the trainees are working on existing farms and have to complete specific assignments. In the vocational training sessions, Bles Dairies engaged experts from the Netherlands and trainers from Bles Dairies East Africa (Kenya)to assist in the program’s success.

The trained DDEs are deployed in many regions targeted by the PDFC’s DDP. With a total of 50 DDEs in its workforce trained on several matters that are mostly raised as concerns or was found to be the most useful for its farming partners. Each DDE has been allocated 15 farms to work with and develop them. To assist the movement of the DDE’s, each of them are provided with a two-wheeler so as to cover as many farmers as possible in the region allocated to them.

The DDE engage with the identified lead farms on a day to day basis assisting them more closely on their requirement. Each DDE is also mapped with about 15 CDF (Commercial Dairy Farms) who have been identified to improve their output and overall quality of the farm itself. The DDEs work with the farmers on several levels and assist them on matters concerning farm planning, livestock management, disease management, rain water harvesting, paddocking, hay bale making, silage making, quality control among many others.