Time for tea on the Cherangani Hills

Tea in a sea of maize — the description of a relatively new crop in county widely regarded as an exclusive zone for corn.

“There is potential for tea farming, but people are still tied to the maize tradition, they believe one cannot be a complete farmer without growing maize,” said Mrs Norah Opanga, the field services officer at Kapsara Tea Factory.

Yet tea farming is increasingly becoming an alternative cash crop in Trans Nzoia.

Though small scale, it is spreading in the Cherangani highlands and Mt Elgon areas.

The increase of smallscale growers led to the opening of the Kapsara factory in the sprawling Cherangani Hills.

It was commissioned by President Kibaki in 2005 to help farmers whose only factory was far away in Nandi.

It is the smallest tea processor in the country and the newest among the factories managed by the Kenya Tea Development Authority.

“It is new and just a one line factory serving tea farmers from as far off as Mt Elgon and Marakwet,” said James Mwangi, the production assistant.

It has a capacity to process five million kilos of leaf a year, with a target of six million.

Green leaf also comes from neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet whose farmers used to take their tea to Chebut in Nandi. Around Kapsara in the rich soils of Cherangani, the coming of the factory has changed people’s lives.

Roads have improved, people have electricity and medical care from a hospital supported by the factory.

Small sachets

They can also buy small sachets of tea packed to become pocket-friendly.

“Many farmers are now seeing the benefits; we pay them on time, maintain roads and sell tea to them at affordable prices,” said Mrs Opanga.

And more is on the way as the factory is developing Chemuka hydro-power electricity project on a nearby river.

The factory also buys wood for fuel from the local community, ploughing back the money to the people as well as supplying them with seedlings from their eucalyptus nursery.

The factory gets leaf from Nyayo Tea Zone’s 121 hectares plus some 2,024 smallscale farmers who have 464 hectares under tea.

The highest farmer took home Sh1 million in bonus last year. Last month, it paid a total of Sh4 million to its farmers.