This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has come under fire from small-scale tea farmers in the Rift Valley, who are demanding the removal of its directors over alleged mismanagement and low bonus payments.
According to the farmers, the current management has failed to introduce aggressive marketing strategies for tea products, resulting in low returns and bonuses.
“KTDA requires an urgent overhaul to cushion farmers against being pushed out of the sector due to the high cost of production coupled with low returns,” said Mathew Lang’at, a tea farmer from Nandi County.
The farmers, who are over 30,000 strong, are also demanding an investigation into alleged financial misconduct and high deductions from tea earnings to sustain KTDA operations.
“Such low bonus amounts to exploitation of farmers, who face numerous challenges ranging from servicing loans to maintaining tea bushes,” said the farmers, led by David Too and Joseph Lagat.
KTDA managers have attributed the fall in bonus pay to a drop in global prices by about Sh22 a kilo due to surplus production.
However, the farmers are not convinced, with some threatening to uproot the cash crop and invest in other ventures.
Published on October 7, 2019 by BARNABAS BII
