Economic, Environmental, and Social Returns to Whey Valorisation in Kenya’s Dairy Industry

Economic, Environmental, and Social Returns to Whey Valorisation in Kenya’s Dairy Industry | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Economic, Environmental, and Social Returns to Whey Valorisation in Kenya’s Dairy Industry Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a, Celestine Mutio, Dickson Okello, Simon Bolwig, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8276823/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The Kenyan dairy sector plays a crucial role in the national economy, yet it faces challenges related to the low-value utilization of by-products such as whey, leading to economic inefficiencies and environmental burdens. This study applies an expanded cost–benefit analysis (CBA) framework that integrates environmental and social externalities—using a value-transfer approach—to evaluate the economic feasibility of whey valorisation at selected dairy-processing facilities in Kenya. By systematically assessing production, processing, and marketing costs against both market and non-market benefits, this research provides data-driven insights for policymakers, investors, and industry stakeholders. The study examines how dairy processors convert whey into high-value products, including whey yogurt, smoothies, and ricotta cheese, all while achieving financial viability, using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations confirms the robustness of financial outcomes, while the inclusion of externalities—greenhouse-gas reduction, wastewater pollution avoidance, renewable energy recovery, and rural employment creation—raises total social net benefits by approximately 12–18%. By positioning whey valorisation within a circular economy framework, this study highlights the potential to minimize waste and advance Kenya’s climate, food-security, and bioeconomy goals. The findings present a strong case for targeted policy measures, including investment incentives, cooperative processing models, and green-technology support and certification, to scale sustainable whey valorisation. Overall, this research demonstrates how internalizing environmental and social externalities strengthens the business and policy rationale for a low-carbon, inclusive dairy transformation. Other Business Environmental Policy Microeconomics Environmental Economics Food Science & Technology Cost-benefit analysis valorisation externalities whey circular economy food-processing Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files AppendicesExpandedCBA.docx Online Appendices Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8276823","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":555121844,"identity":"bebf4aad-81a1-4825-b600-ce0d839ba440","order_by":0,"name":"Stanley Karanja Ng’ang’a","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6166-7920","institution":"International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Stanley","middleName":"Karanja","lastName":"Ng’ang’a","suffix":""},{"id":555131394,"identity":"c0992c02-6b09-40a7-a756-769b5ef64804","order_by":1,"name":"Celestine 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Returns to Whey Valorisation in Kenya’s Dairy Industry\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research 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This study applies an expanded cost\u0026ndash;benefit analysis (CBA) framework that integrates environmental and social externalities\u0026mdash;using a value-transfer approach\u0026mdash;to evaluate the economic feasibility of whey valorisation at selected dairy-processing facilities in Kenya.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy systematically assessing production, processing, and marketing costs against both market and non-market benefits, this research provides data-driven insights for policymakers, investors, and industry stakeholders. The study examines how dairy processors convert whey into high-value products, including whey yogurt, smoothies, and ricotta cheese, all while achieving financial viability, using net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and benefit-cost ratio (BCR). Sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations confirms the robustness of financial outcomes, while the inclusion of externalities\u0026mdash;greenhouse-gas reduction, wastewater pollution avoidance, renewable energy recovery, and rural employment creation\u0026mdash;raises total social net benefits by approximately 12\u0026ndash;18%.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy positioning whey valorisation within a circular economy framework, this study highlights the potential to minimize waste and advance Kenya\u0026rsquo;s climate, food-security, and bioeconomy goals. The findings present a strong case for targeted policy measures, including investment incentives, cooperative processing models, and green-technology support and certification, to scale sustainable whey valorisation. Overall, this research demonstrates how internalizing environmental and social externalities strengthens the business and policy rationale for a low-carbon, inclusive dairy transformation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Economic, Environmental, and Social Returns to Whey Valorisation in Kenya’s Dairy Industry","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-05 10:45:01","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8276823/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"e533aec1-d5c5-4c0c-9893-c4e1f730f8f9","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 5th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":59076527,"name":"Other Business"},{"id":59076528,"name":"Environmental Policy"},{"id":59076529,"name":"Microeconomics"},{"id":59076530,"name":"Environmental Economics"},{"id":59076531,"name":"Food Science \u0026 Technology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-05T10:45:01+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-05 10:45:01","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8276823","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8276823","identity":"rs-8276823","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}