Kenya Tea Development Authority will start paying mini bonus to its contracted farmers in April.
KTDA chairman, David Ichoho confirmed that tea farmers will start receiving their July 2021 to December 2021 mini bonus totalling Sh3 billion from the first week of April.
“The bonus will be paid together with the monthly payment for the tea delivered in March," he said.
Ichoho said the mini bonus would have been paid in March but this has been delayed due to logistical issues arising from varying release dates that some factories had set.
He said some factories had slated to make the payment in March and May respectively, but we had a meeting with factories’ board to agree on a uniform time of release.
Ichoho said the highest payment will go to factories in Embu county at Sh10 per kilo, followed by Murang’a County at between Sh6 to Sh7 depending on the factory.
“Factories in Kiambu County will get Sh6, while those in Nyeri County will receive a mini bonus of Sh5 per kilo of tea delivered in the six-month period," he announced.
He said factories in Embu especially Mungania, Rukiriri and Kathangiriri have always received the highest prices.
The chairman said Bomet and Kericho will receive payment of Sh5 per kilo while Kisii, Nyamira, Nandi, Trans Nzoia and Vihiga Counties will not be getting anything.
Last year, KTDA paid a mini bonus of between Sh2 to Sh5 per kg of tea delivered.
In mid-February, tea prices at the weekly Mombasa auction dropped for a second consecutive week but remained above the preferred two-dollar mark.
According to the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), this year’s performance however remains higher compared to last year where within the first seven weeks of market activities, the commodity had not fetched a price of two dollars.
