This archive report was first published on 19 September 2019.
Published on September 19, 2019, tea farmers in Mt Kenya region are facing a 10-year low in annual bonus payments. The Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) has announced that this year's payout will be 30 per cent lower on average.
Most factory boards in the region have already approved the new rates, which are unlikely to exceed Sh40 per kilo. Farmers from some of the 65 small-holder tea factories affiliated to KTDA expressed dismay, saying this year's bonus was the lowest they had earned in nearly 10 years.
"It is shocking. We have put in so much work, and going by the trends over the past years we expected that we would earn better this year. We want KTDA to reconsider these payments, otherwise we will incur losses," said Moses Mwangi, a farmer affiliated to Gathuthi tea factory in Nyeri.
KTDA Meru Regional Director Paul Ringera attributed the decline to turbulence in the main export markets of Pakistan, Sudan, and the United Kingdom. He noted that there has been a slight improvement in prices for their produce.
Other factories that have approved their rates include Kiru and Githambo, both in Murang'a, at Sh28 and Sh27.75 respectively. Factories in the western Kenya tea-growing belt, including Kisii, will pay farmers the lowest amounts, with some earning as little as Sh10 per kilo.
Underlying the bad year farmers have endured is the fact that some factories will be paying bonus rates lower than the Sh15 monthly payouts. This last happened in the 1990s.
KTDA chairman Peter Kanyago said the industry has been hit hard by the decline in export markets. He emphasized the need for consultations with key stakeholders on the way forward.
