Farmers win support in push for tea bonus

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei during past a press conference. Koskei has accused directors of tea factories run by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) of plotting to deny farmers bonus this year.

What you need to know:

  • Government seeking new markets for produce
  • The accusation came from Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei during a Farmers’ Open Day at the Tea Research Foundation in Kericho.
  • Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony supported the minister and sought to know why tea farmers had not received the mini-bonus despite having produced millions of kilos of green tea over the past year.

Directors of tea factories run by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) have been accused of plotting to deny farmers bonus this year.

The accusation came from Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei during a Farmers’ Open Day at the Tea Research Foundation in Kericho.

Mr Koskei said the directors had refused to approve the payments despite an agreement with KTDA managing director Tiampati Lerionka to pay the farmers.

The minister asked tea farmers to hold the directors accountable over delays in the disbursement of the money.

“Mr Lerionka said he is ready to pay, but this has been blocked by some factory directors. I urge farmers to call for meetings and pass resolutions that will compel their factory directors to approve the payments.”

Two weeks ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta met officials from KTDA, the Kenya Tea Growers’ Association, relevant ministries, auctioneers and other stakeholders in the tea industry and a decision was made to pay the interim bonus.

 Before the meeting, KTDA-owned factories had warned farmers that they may not receive the half-year bonus due to a tea glut that had resulted in lower tea prices. The half-year bonus is usually paid out in May.

Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony, who attended the function, supported the minister and sought to know why tea farmers had not received the mini-bonus despite having produced millions of kilos of green tea over the past year.

Mr Koskei was concerned that several factories could be under poor management and told tea farmers to be more involved in the management by keeping the directors of the factories on their toes as they were the ones who elected them.

“There are a lot of questions on the management of factories. We need to look at how they are managed and make sure they are efficient, so that farmers get the most benefit from them,” he said.

The minister lamented that the country exported tea in unprocessed format and emphasised the need for value addition.

He said the government planned to put up a “common user facility” in Mombasa to assist small and medium-size enterprises to add value to their tea before export.

“We have been looking at the cost of the project and a private investor to help us. Once complete, it will ensure that more of our teas is value-added before it can be exported. This will stabilise tea prices and give more money to the farmers.”

"The government has also targeted Nigeria, China, Russia, and Poland as new tea markets, he said.