Great news for tea growers

There is some good news for the small-scale tea farmers who have had a rough time in recent years. They are going to receive a record Sh89 billion in payments for their crop from the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA). These are record earnings from the supply of green leaf during the last financial year and a huge boost to the struggling sub-sector.

With an increase of Sh21.5 billion from the previous financial year’s payout of Sh67.7 billion, this calls for a major celebration. Indeed, the farmers should be encouraged to do even better and boost foreign exchange earnings. The improved production has been enabled by favourable weather and better markets.

According to KTDA, the payments covering the financial year ending June 30, are the highest ever by the agency. They confirm that tea growing is not just a reliable source of livelihood for small-scale growers, but is a key foreign exchange earner, competing with horticultural exports, diaspora remittances and tourism.

Some Sh56.68 billion has been paid as a bonus and Sh32.61 billion disbursed as monthly payments for fresh green leaf deliveries. The 54 factories across the country have received Sh1.04 billion in dividends, which is the highest ever in the agency’s history.

The increased earnings have also been attributed to a higher price per kilogramme of tea sold at the Mombasa auction. This has been made possible by reducing operational costs and improving overall efficiency.

This comes after a gloomy development this year in which tea growers have faced numerous challenges, including huge amounts of unsolved tea at the Mombasa auction. The auction centre was said to be holding more than 45 million kilogrammes of unsold tea over a number of factors, including price differences and concern over annual bonuses due to a tea glut.

It is encouraging that the agency is continuing to adopt modern technologies and inject innovations to increase efficiency.