On January 7, 2022, the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) made a significant payment to its smallholder tea farmers, disbursing Sh3 billion for December 2021 deliveries.
This payment represents a notable increase from the Sh2.58 billion paid to farmers for November 2021 deliveries, totaling 137.3 million kilos of green leaf delivered to KTDA-managed factories.
KTDA Holdings CEO, Wilson Muthaura, noted that the new payment schedule will provide farmers with faster access to their earnings, thereby boosting their financial empowerment.
‘We are pleased to announce that the payment for the December 2021 green leaf delivery by our farmers has been made this week in line with the payment schedule change we introduced last month,’ Muthaura said.
Previously, the delay in payments had led some farmers to resort to leaf hawking to access cash earlier, but the new system aims to address this issue.
As part of its efforts to support smallholder farmers, KTDA introduced a minimum reserve price of Sh268 (USD2.43) per kilo of processed tea in July 2021, which has helped to cushion farmers affected by the deteriorating market.
Since then, the prices of KTDA teas at the auction have rallied, increasing from USD1.9 to an average of USD2.92 at the last auction.
