The ban on logging will reduce tea farmers’ earnings due to the increased cost of production at the factory level.
Stakeholders told the Ad hoc Senate committee in Murang’a that the ban has caused tea factories to resort to using electricity to process their tea which is extremely expensive.
KTDA zone 3 board member Francis Macharia told the committee led by Kericho senator Aaron Cheruiyot that factories relied heavily on timber in their production.
He said it costs a factory Sh 7 to process a kilogram of tea using timber while electricity costs Sh32 per kilogram.
This, he said, has caused farmers to dig deeper into their pocket which will eat into their earnings.
Cheruiyot said many factories have established their own private forests to provide their required energy yet they are not allowed to use the trees.
He said there is a need for the government to find a way for private institutions that have their own forests to be allowed to sustainably use them to caution farmers from losses.
“Conversion of tea leaves to the actual tea is a process that consumes a lot of energy and these factories require a cheaper alternative,” the senator said.
Cheruiyot also emphasized the need for the government to handle the issues facing the tea sector as a way of empowering tea farmers.
He noted that the sector is the leading foreign exchange earner yet the money does not trickle down to farmers.
“Out of the Sh140 billion generated in the sector last year, only half of it went into farmers’ pockets as the rest went into taxation and other agencies’ fees,” he noted.
Such issues, he added, need to be reviewed to cushion the sector from collapse like the pyrethrum and cotton sectors that he said faced the same challenges.
He said the committee will soon summon the relevant government agencies in a bid to find amicable solutions.
Murang’a senator Irungu Kang’ata on his part noted that the 42 taxes imposed on the commodity further reduce farmers’ returns and should be reviewed.
“As a committee, we will consider changing the law to ensure all these challenges are carefully considered,” he added.
Kang’ata said the tea sector is the largest in the county, raking in a gross income of Sh.11.9 billion with the second largest being the milk sector that grosses Sh. 1 billion annually.
Gatanga MP Joseph Nduati on his part said a bill that seeks to incorporate tea factories in the Export Processing Zone (EZP) has been tabled in parliament and will be discussed next week.
“If it is passed, tea factories will benefit from some incentives enjoyed under the EPZ especially reduced taxes,” the MP said.