Tea farmers from Kangema in Murang’a county have vowed to sustain their fight for reforms in the tea sector to save themselves from meagre returns.
The farmers have said the tea regulations introduced by the Agriculture ministry are their only chance to wriggle out of KTDA’s stranglehold that they said has kept them in a cycle of poverty.
Speaking at Karurumo during a sensitisation forum on the new tea regulations, they cited the election of board members at the factory level as one of their main challenges as the process is not democratic.
They said they want a one-grower one-vote system as opposed to the current one where the weight of a vote is dependent on the amount of tea a farmer harvests.
James Kaguyu said directors’ elections are more contested than political elections, with contestants using millions in their campaigns.
This, he said, leads to corruption in the factories as the directors seek to recover the elections’ expenses.
Kaguyu said farmers have decided to fight for their tea and ensure all illiterate farmers are enlightened and sensitised on the tea regulations.
“We are saying enough is enough. We will no longer be given peace-meal information on the factories that we own and how our tea is traded. We refuse to allow a few people to continue benefiting from our hard earned returns,” he said.
Kaguyu told the meeting that they are not allowed to ask questions during factories’ annual general meetings.
Joseph Mwangi, a tea technician, also noted that majority of the issues facing the tea sector stem from elections.
Mwangi further noted that many countries have reduced the cost of production by allowing the use of machinery in tea harvesting.
Locally, however, farmers are forced to hire harvesters who are paid Sh12 per kilogram and incur extra weeding and pruning costs.
Mwangi said local factories strictly require farmers to pick two leaves and a bud, and that farmers are harassed by factories’ clerks who make them sort their tea repeatedly in buying centres over claims of exceeding the required leaves.
Phillip Mbui said they want 50 per cent of their pay released monthly while 30 per cent goes towards factories' operations and 30 per cent retained as the annual bonus.
Mbui said having half of their money paid monthly will help farmers plan their lives better and save them from enslaving loans.
“When you pay me Sh15 per kilogram monthly, I am forced to take loans to sustain myself yet my money is being kept by KTDA,” he said.
Mbui called for transparency in the factories saying farmers should be informed on how much their tea is sold for in the weekly auction in Mombasa and wondered why KTDA is unable to secure markets in countries that pay better.
Wanja Michuki, a member of the eight-member steering committee on the implementation of tea regulations that has since been challenged in court by KTDA said she met the farmers in her capacity as a farmer to exchange thoughts on the tea regulations.
Wanja who owns acres of tea bushes in Karurumo said the farmers’ views will be presented to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya.
She said the monopoly enjoyed by KTDA in the provision of management services to small holder tea factories disadvantages farmers.
“We have not been able to explore other companies that can offer great services at cheaper fees because we are holding on to one agent. We are forced to contend with whatever charges it imposes,” she said.
Allowing competition in management services would provide a platform for companies to compete on prices, reducing the cost of production for farmers.
Wanja also noted that factories can partner to procure farm inputs for their farmers and benefit from economies of scale.
She said farmers should also elect directors who can help factories create strategies that can help improve their earnings without having to refer to the managing agency which she said diminishes the factories' independence.
“We also need to separate the two functions. The board is one thing while the managing agent is another and farmers are factories’ shareholders,” she noted, adding that farmers should have proper ownership of the factory as they have share certificates.
She said the reforms being introduced by the government are extremely progressive and even recognise the role of women by ensuring a third of the board of directors are women.
Edited by R.Wamochie
