Agriculture CS Peter Munya has attributed the current dipping of tea prices to high production.
To address this, Munya directed the Tea Board of Kenya, tea factories management and other relevant government agencies to urgently end the malpractices surrounding falsification and manipulation of weighing of green leaf at the tea buying centres.
He said this will ensure farmers derive maximum benefit from their produce.
He spoke on Saturday at a Nairobi hotel during a media briefing on the current state of tea prices and the interventions to be implemented towards their improvement.
There has been a sharp decline in tea prices at the Mombasa Tea Auction in the last few weeks, with the average prices recorded dropping to an all-time low of Sh193.9.
“This is much lower compared to an average price of Sh225.2 recorded during the same period last year and Sh240.4 for the same period in the year 2019,” he said.
Munya said the price is not only lower compared to previous years but is also almost at par with the cost production, which currently stands at approximately Sh183.3.
He added that this is not sustainable as farmers are now operating at a loss, and that if this worrying trend is not urgently addressed, farmers may abandon tea farming and shift to other economic activities.
Munya said going forward, smallholder tea producers shall set a reserve minimum average price at the auction.
This, he said, will be based on the cost of production, the grade of the tea and a reasonable return to the tea farmer.
“I expect parties in the auction system to give support to the smallholder tea farmers to ensure sustainability of the tea sub-sector and continuous supply of high quality tea to the auction and our export markets,” said Munya.
“The smallholder producers are expected to strategically manage their supplies of black CTC to the auction. This will include diversification into Orthodox tea production which should be enhanced especially during the flash periods.”
He added that in order to reduce farm inputs cost and costs associated with storage, transportation logistics and port handling, the ministry is exploring the possibility of using SGR as an affordable alternative for transporting tea to the port of Mombasa.
Edited by Henry Makori
