Tea farmers in parts of Kenya have started boycotting picking the crop in protest against the peanuts that tea is current fetching them.
The Senate’s Agriculture Committee chairman, Senator Kiraitu Murungi, Agric Committee Chairman disclosed this on the House after a colleague, Senator Wilfrd Lessan requested a statement in the House over the crisis in the tea industry. Prices for tea have hit a six-year low with bonus payments of between Sh26.50 a kilo and Sh8.50 a kilo, down from a high of Sh41.20 and Sh21 last year.
Admitting that the situation in the tea industry “was dire”, Murungi said: “This committee is aware of a serious crisis caused by a shocking fall in earnings that has been at its worst in the last two decades. He said tea farmers from some parts of the country have rebelled and boycotted picking tea and that the situation could likely “get ugly” unless urgent measures were taken to reverse the sorry state of affairs.
“Some of the farmers have humiliated directors and purported to sack managers of tea factories. We need a comprehensive report on the problem,” said Mr. Murungi. Contributing to the debate, Senator Lesan said the tea industry was being wrecked by self-centred individuals. “The tea industry is being strangled by greed at the tea auction and management of tea by people with “I don’t care attitude” towards farmers.”
Deputy Speaker Kembi Gitura, who represents Murang’a, said squabbles that threatened the survival of the tea sector should be addressed.
Senator Chris Obure (Kisii, ODM) described the matter as weighty, saying he had previously brought a petition on the plight of tea farmers to the attention of the House.“For long, earnings from tea exports have made tremendous contribution to the country’s economy and we should not sit and watch as the sector goes to the dogs,” he said.
Senator Daniel Karaba (Kirinyaga, TNA) said there were cases of “under-weighing of tea leaves” which translated to loss of revenue for farmers.
Mr. Amos Wako (Busia, ODM) said though tea, coffee and tourism were the highest foreign exchange earners, Kenya was not getting its due share because of poor marketing. “Kenya tea is used to blend tea from other countries because of its quality but it is not well marketed,” he said.
Directors of the Kenya Tea Development Authority had earlier met the National Assembly’s Agriculture Committee for more than four hours to explain the decline in tea earnings for farmers. At the meeting, KTDA managing director Lerionka Tiampati said the agency had no control over the price at auction in Mombasa, where 11 brokers handled tea from 54 factories.
The committee was concerned that tea from the Mount Kenya region was sold at a significantly higher price than tea from areas west of the Rift Valley.The lowest bonus was paid to farmers from Ogembo Factory at Sh8.50, with the highest going to farmers from Imenti at Sh26.
While KTDA argued that a glut in the market had caused the collapse in bonus payments, the committee was of the view that there were bigger problems in the industry.
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