A Kiambu legislator yesterday urged farmers to stop hawking tea leaves to middlemen and instead sell it to factories.
Limuru MP John Kiragu said there is an increased demand from European countries for tea grown in Limuru constituency.
The MP said tea from the area is of high quality.
He urged farmers to sell the leaves to the local factories, since international community is eyeing them to increase imports.
Kiragu spoke at his office in Limuru town.
He said taking their tea to factories will enable them get quick money, cheap loans, training and other services.
“The tea grown in Limuru is observed as one of the best quality in the whole world, but people don’t know that,” Kiragu said.
“The international community is approaching local factories, especially in Tigoni, Nazareth and Mabroukie, to buy their products.”
He spoke two days after hosting Slovak President Andrej Kiska at Karirana Tea Estate Manufacturing Plant in Tigoni on Monday.
Kiragu said President Kiska told the plant management that Aden Tea, produced by the plant, is widely sold in his country.
“We hope and expect the sale of our products will benefit our farmers. By stopping hawking, the middlemen, who benefit more than farmers, will look for something else to do,” Kiragu said.
Kiska who was received by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday. He was on a two-day tour of the country.
The two heads of state held talks of how to improve Kenya and Slovakia bilateral trade and relations.
In June last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn toured Karirana Tea in a bid to strengthen its sale in his country.
