The Kenya Tea Development Authority should support farmers to make profits from their labour, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri has said.
Kiunjuri said that the authority should stay true to its core mandate and not frustrate farmers.
“Is KTDA executing its core mandate of marketing tea for the farmers or is it concentrating more in expanding mandate?
“Have you invested more on what can give farmers more money or you have invested in other things that do not benefit the farmer?” he asked.
The CS spoke yesterday at the Africa Productivity Conference ongoing at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organisation headquarters.
Kiunjuri called for measures to cushion farmers against low prices following a glut in global tea production.
He said KTDA should encourage the production of specialty teas which are fetching better prices at the global market.
“KTDA and other players should focus on diversification because today, the price of orthodox tea is going for Sh300 and above while black tea is Sh240. The question is, where did the rain start beating us?” he said.
