Two weeks after the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) directed its 54 factory units to raise payments for green leaf supplied by farmers to between Sh26 and Sh30, controversy has erupted over the factories’ inability to pay the proposed prices.
A section of the 700,000 small-scale tea growers, especially from the West of Rift region, are up in arms against the management of individual factory units for reverting to the old price of Sh23, despite the board’s directive for enhanced payments.
In an earlier directive, the KTDA Holdings Board of Directors had instructed factories in the East of Rift to pay farmers at least Sh30 per kilogram of green leaf and Sh26 for those in the West of Rift zone.
“After reviewing the financial position of factories in Region Five – Kericho and Bomet counties – the factory boards, in a meeting held at Kapkatet Tea Factory, resolved to maintain the current monthly payment of Sh23 per kilogram of green leaf,” KTDA stated on February 4, 2026.
“The board noted that low tea absorption and depressed prices in the 2024/2025 financial year negatively affected factory cash flows,” added KTDA.
It was further revealed that volumes of tea supplied to KTDA-managed factories in the region had declined, with the agency promising to review green leaf prices in the near future.
Affected farmers are now demanding that the January 2, 2026, directive be implemented in full to curb long-standing financial losses.
A farmer picking tea.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Farmers supplying leaf to KTDA factories in Nyamira will be paid Sh24 per kilogram, one shilling higher than those in Bomet and Kericho counties. Meanwhile, KTDA factories in the East of the Rift region (Mount Kenya) are paying farmers Sh30 per kilogram of green leaf.
KTDA has also urged farmers to maintain high-quality plucking of two leaves and a bud to secure better market prices, as the agency increasingly embraces value addition before selling to local and export markets.
Mr Joseph Rono, a tea reform activist, said it was unfair that farmers in the West of Rift were earning less than their Eastern counterparts.
“We plant and harvest the same crops, practice the same husbandry, and produce the same leaf. Why are we paid differently when the tea is processed by the same factories and sold in the same markets?” Mr Rono said.
Farmers from the West of Rift (Western, South Nyanza, and Rift Valley) have repeatedly demanded uniform pay with their colleagues in the East of Rift, citing fairness and equity.
Dr Michael Bongei, a strategic management expert, argued that small-scale tea farmers should earn more, given the sector’s significant contribution to Kenya’s foreign exchange.
“It is only fair that the billions of dollars the country earns annually from tea—both through direct sales and the Mombasa Tea Auction—are reflected in the pockets of the small-scale farmers,” Dr Bongei said.
He added that ongoing reforms, including value addition before local and export sales, will eventually benefit farmers, and encouraged them to focus on quality leaf production and high-yielding tea clones.
Two weeks ago, tea auction organisers, brokers and buyers were directed by the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) to deposit proceeds from tea sales directly into the accounts of the 54 KTDA factories within 14 days of the auction.
“Section 36(2) of the Tea Act 2020 requires all tea factory limited companies to register directly with the board and the auction organizers to participate in the tea auction, not through management agents,” stated Mr Willy Mutai, TBK Chief Executive Officer, in a January 16, 2026 memo.
Mr Mutai said TBK will conduct routine inspections and compliance audits to ensure adherence to directives and other provisions of the Tea Act, 2020, with penalties for non-compliance.
Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Kiprono Ronoh has also called for an immediate review of green leaf prices and urged KTDA factory management to implement the board’s directives.
“Farmers must get value for their produce under the government’s tea industry reforms. There is no justification for small-scale farmers being paid less than Sh26 per kilogram of green leaf supplied,” Mr Ronoh said.
KTDA has recently implemented several government-backed reforms, including higher green leaf prices, separation of sister company management, subsidised fertilisers, independent factory management, and increased accountability to farmers.
