Kenyan electric mobility manufacturer Lunghou Teketeke Group is targeting dairy farmers with electric motorcycles and cargo tricycles that it says can cut milk transportation costs by up to 80 per cent, as high logistics expenses weigh on the economics of milk production.
The company says farmers using petrol-powered motorcycles spend about Sh1,000 daily transporting milk, compared with Sh200 for electric bikes, potentially freeing up income for smallholder producers operating on tight margins.
The proposed shift to electric transport comes as the government invests in milk cooling equipment for cooperatives and organised farmer groups, raising questions about whether the infrastructure can deliver its full benefits without cheaper ways of moving milk from farms and collection centres to cooling plants.
Lunghou Teketeke managing director Richard Chesebe said the company had developed electric motorcycles capable of carrying up to 500 kilogrammes, equivalent to about 500 litres of milk, targeting rural farmers largely overlooked by electric mobility firms focused on urban transport.
“We have realized that every other founder of the same has focused on the urban sector. And we are really keen on the rural area to ensure that farmers in our rural areas save costs,” said Chesebe.
He said the electric motorcycles could cover between 100 and 120 kilometres on a daily operating budget of Sh200, although the company did not provide independent data to verify the claimed savings.
The manufacturer has also developed electric cargo tricycles and tuk-tuks designed to transport milk, animal feed, water and other farm supplies. The larger vehicles can carry between 1.5 and two tonnes, according to the company.
The business model seeks to address a gap in the dairy value chain, where investments in milk cooling facilities may not be sufficient if farmers cannot transport their produce to collection points affordably.
High collection costs can eat into farmers' earnings, particularly in rural areas where producers are spread across large distances.
More affordable transport could help cooperatives collect milk from more farmers and deliver it to processors, although the extent of the potential gains will depend on vehicle prices, maintenance costs and actual operating performance.
Lunghou Teketeke is asking the government to extend tax exemptions available to agricultural equipment to locally assembled electric motorcycles and other farm transport innovations, arguing that lower taxes would make the vehicles more affordable to farmers.
The company says it assembles electric two-wheel and three-wheel vehicles in Kenya and manufactures lithium iron phosphate batteries locally, reducing its reliance on fully imported finished products.
Mr Chesebe said farmers could also convert existing petrol-powered motorcycles to electric models, potentially avoiding the cost of purchasing new vehicles.
The Agriculture Committee chairperson John Mutunga said the government had been asked to consider deploying the electric equipment to organised cooperatives, with four units reportedly handed over to the Ministry for consideration for distribution.
“We know that the government has had a subsidy program where they are supplying milk coolers to various cooperatives or various organized groups. This particular motorbike, or particular innovation, is going to help our farmers to reduce their costs of transporting milk from their collection centers to their milk cooling plants,” said Mutunga.
