Inside Ruto's Multi-Million, Expansive Koelel Dairy Farm Toured by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

President William Ruto hosted Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at his Koelel dairy farm in Uasin Gishu County.

The president, an avid farmer, gave the regional leader a first-hand look at his agricultural enterprise shortly after Mashujaa Day celebrations concluded at Eldoret's Kipchoge Keino Stadium.

The visit offered Abiy a chance to tour Ruto's dairy operation, one of several agricultural investments the president runs in Kenya's North Rift, a region widely regarded as one of the country's main farming zones.

Dairy farming in the region supports thousands of households through milk production, processing and related businesses, forming a key part of the local economy alongside neighbouring counties.

Ruto has long traced much of his financial success back to agriculture, having built a significant portion of his wealth through large-scale poultry farming and egg sales, maize cultivation and dairy production.

His Koilel farm, located in Moiben Constituency within Uasin Gishu County, sits at the centre of his wider agribusiness empire, which stretches across several other farms countrywide.

A video documenting an earlier visit to the farm on 10 October showed Ruto deeply engaged with one of the staff members as he inspected the animals on site, where a modern feeding system has been installed for efficiency.

True to his reputation as a hands-on farmer, he scooped a handful of feed and examined it closely before continuing his tour.

From the feeding area, Ruto moved on to the dairy section's milking unit, where modern technology has largely replaced what would traditionally be a labour-intensive process.

Mechanised equipment extracts the milk, which then flows through a network of pipes into a central collection system before being pumped into a waiting milk tanker for transport, processing and eventual sale.

Ruto watched as the day's milk collection was loaded onto the tanker, taking time to engage with workers at the farm during the process.

The Koilel farm was registered in 2015, with Ruto, First Lady Rachel Ruto and Nicholas Kipkurgat Ruto listed among its shareholders.

Beyond dairy, the farm specialises in mechanised crop production, particularly maize and vegetables, with part of the harvest used to feed livestock in both the dairy and beef sections, and the rest processed into chicken feed, according to Ruto's own past remarks.

The President's farming interests extend well beyond Koilel.

His other properties include Yegen Farm, the hub of his poultry operations, the 2,500-acre Kisima Farm in Taita Taveta County, and Intona Ranch in Narok.

The farm tour took place against a backdrop of ongoing discussions between Kenya and Ethiopia on bilateral relations and regional cooperation.

Both countries play significant roles in the Horn of Africa, with Gebeyehu attending the visit in his capacity as IGAD's Executive Secretary.