Tea and coffee farmers should be given subsidies like their sugarcane and maize counterparts, Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina has said.
Maina said the two crops are the most important revenue earners in the country and their production should be improved.
The crops, he said, have had some issues starting with management and pricing, resulting in farmers getting a pittance or nothing for their produce.
“There are also other malpractices such as numerous deductions which are done but are not properly explained to the farmer. All these result in farmers being a very frustrated lot and living very miserable lives,” he said.
The senator said he would take up the matter with the government to ensure farmers get justice.
Maina addressed the media after meeting farmers’ representatives at his Lusoi home in Kieni on Saturday.
“KTDA also needs to come out clearly because it operates like an opaque body yet it is dealing with resources of the farmers,” he said.
The senator asked why public institutions like the Kenya Tea Development Agency should not be audited by the Auditor General yet they deal with public products and funds.
There is a Tea Bill in the Senate and he promised to ensure that some of the issues are addressed by the proposed law.
Milk farmers are also getting miserable prices with a kilogramme selling at Sh25, he said.
Farmer Grace Ngambi said they should be paid well and issues of elections at the KTDA addressed.
“This is because the peasant farmer has got the same rights like the big farmer but KTDA goes with shareholding, where one farmer can own the whole factory so that there is no equity in the election of KTDA directors,” she said.
Farmers also want the tea bonus at the end of the year paid in three tranches, as keeping the money for a year denies funds for development.
Ngambi said farmers are forced to apply for loans from banks to pay fees and meet other needs.
The farmer said tea pickers take a bigger chunk of their monthly income and if payments are improved, KTDA should allow farmers to use tea picking machines to cut costs.
Maina said tea farmers should have a vote in tea management irrespective of the amount of crop grown.
“When we are electing the President, everybody is equal. Why is it different when we are electing farmers’ representatives? It should be the same,” he said.
