This archive report was first published on 26 July 2021.
Kenya's tea industry has been facing a crisis, with the introduction of tea plucking machines displacing thousands of workers in Kericho and Bomet counties. The machines, deployed by multinational tea companies, have reduced the need for manual labor, leading to a significant decline in employment opportunities.
According to the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU), the union's membership in the two counties has plummeted from 30,000 to barely 10,000 today. The union's figures indicate that each machine can displace over 200 tea pluckers, with the latest batch of machines deployed by multinational tea firms during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"James Finlay, Unilever, George Williamson, Sotik tea and other multinational tea companies in South Rift region have now deployed bigger tea plucking machines. Going by this rate, 2,000 additional tea pluckers will soon be rendered jobless," said Jared Momanyi, the Bomet KPAWU branch secretary.
The union has appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to ensure the government places a limit on the percentage of tea plantations the multinational tea firms can harvest mechanically. "The government must put in place a piece of legislation and policies to regulate the mechanisation of tea plucking. It must safeguard the tea pluckers' livelihoods," said Dickson Sang, the Kericho KPAWU branch secretary.
However, the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) has defended the use of machines, citing efficiency and sustainability as the main reasons. "We are managing the current workforce by giving them good terms as we introduce mechanisation knowing that it shouldn’t be a solution to the end, but it’s a means to efficiency and sustainability," said Apollo Kiari, the KTGA Chief Executive Officer.
As the debate rages on, Unilever Tea company recently advertised for mechanical harvesters, giving the clearest sign that multinational tea companies were on the road to fully mechanise their operations, which might result in massive job cuts.
