Tea production by smallholder farmers up 15pc

 

Smallholder tea farmers under the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) have recorded a 15.2pc growth in the production of greenleaf.

This has seen KTDA sales go up by 2.8pc from 148 million kilos to 152 million kilos of processed tea within the same period, last year.

“We are working round the clock to push as much tea as possible working with other stakeholders including government agencies. Our single focus remains improving the earnings for the farmers,” said Wilson Muthaura, KTDA Group Chief Executive Officer.

Farmers are expected to get higher returns resulting from favorable forex exchange rates as the price KTDA teas went up by 3pc from $2.70 per kg to $2.78 per kgs.

“The global tea market faces headwinds, with rising production costs and fluctuating demand, despite these challenges, KTDA remains focused on maximizing value for our smallholder farmers. We continue to work tirelessly to push as much tea as possible while exploring new markets and value-added opportunities,” added Muthaura.

Factories in West of Rift increased their rates from Ksh 20 to Ksh 24 for a kilogram of green leaf while factories in the East of Rift increased their rate from Ksh 21 to Ksh 25 from January 2024.

KTDA said 763,208,762 kilos of Greenleaf was delivered to their factories for the last seven months (June 2023-January 31st 2024).

This was attributed to favorable weather conditions, application of subsidized fertilizer among other factors.

By Sally Namuye