Tea farmers record increase in tea production

 

Farmers plucking tea leaves

The Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Agriculture, Kipronoh Ronoh, has announced an increase in tea production witnessed in the Financial Year 2023/2024.

Ronoh said the increase in production has led to an increased stock of unsold tea by the small-holder tea factories. 

Speaking at the East Africa Tea Trade Association in Mombasa, the PS said that there is a need to tackle various challenges facing the sale of tea from smallholder tea factories managed by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA). 

He noted that the increase in production is a result of the fertiliser subsidy initiated by the President in the previous Financial Year, good rains, and the increase of tea farmers in the tea sector. 

Ronoh also clarified that there are only 100 million kilogrammes of unsold tea which remain in stock in the various factories and will be sold in one month. 

“Through the analysis of KTDA, we have established that at least 100 million kilogrammes of unsold tea are in the various warehouses; hence, we have agreed among the tea brokers and buyers to buy tea locally so that we can clear the remaining stock in the next one month,” he said. 

Additionally, the PS urged tea traders to desist from publishing unverified information regarding stocks of unsold tea to avoid causing anxiety in the markets, citing that KTDA is not holding 400 million kilogrammes of tea as earlier reported but only 100 kilogrammes. 

According to the PS, in an effort to improve the tea market, the stakeholders derived a list of strategies, which include the review of the reverse price mechanism. 

The government shall make an amendment to the Tea Act, 2020, to allow for Direct Sales Overseas (DSOs) by all tea producers, including factories managed by KTDA. 

All tea producers adhere to a tea quality standard of at least 65 per cent to reverse the declining quality of Kenya tea. 

He added that there is a need for tea producers to diversify their tea production from the traditional black CTC tea to orthodox tea and other teas in the tea auction. 

He noted that tea traders and all other tea industry stakeholders shall join in the government’s agenda of enhancing value addition from the current five per cent to over 22 per cent.

“In this regard, the government shall support the establishment of a Common Use Facility (CUF) for tea value addition and also implement fiscal incentives like tax exemptions in order to support value addition tea,” he said. 

At the same time, the PS said that the state will enhance marketing activities by signing MoUs and bilateral agreements with key markets to enhance market access for Kenyan tea. 

Ronoh applauded tea farmers for their continuous cooperation, especially during the tea sector elections that were conducted in July, as he unveiled the appointment of new directors who have successfully taken the oath and are currently in office. 

“We ran a very successful campaign for new tea directors who are currently in office, and we have interacted with the individuals during a workshop to discuss the way forward. A list of the appointed individuals shall be shared soon for the purpose of the public,” he said. 

The one-day meeting was attended by key stakeholders, including the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), Tea buyers and Tea brokers.

By Chari Suche and Nuru Soud