Tea farmers are to start receiving their second payments this week, the Kenya Tea Development Agency has said.
KTDA chairman Peter Kanyago said on Sunday that though prices are lower this year, there were huge harvests, hence the total bonus to be paid is more than what was paid last financial year.
He said farmers will get Sh5 billion more than what they got last year, totalling Sh56 billion. The chairman said this year the market has expanded slightly, citing new markets like Turkey — now one of the biggest buyers.
The amount of tea sold to Turkey has been substantial as many containers have been shipped to the country.
“We are very happy because we have sent a lot of tea to Turkey, which was not our market before. But through our Chai trading in Mombasa, we have now got this important market,” he said.
Kanyago spoke after a meeting of directors of Zone 4 factories (Nyeri county) with Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina in Nyeri town. They discussed tea farming and improvement measures.
“We updated him (the senator) on the tea industry in Kenya and the meeting was very constructive. We agreed that we shall have regular consultative meetings,” he said.
ACK Mt Kenya West Diocese Bishop Joseph Kagunda and farmers’ representatives also attended. The farmers were not allowed inside the meeting venue but were later briefed on what was discussed.
Maina has been one of the fiercest critics of KTDA. On several occasions, he has lashed out at the agency for being behind farmers' tribulations, particularly over poor pay.
Edited by F'Orieny
