Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) on Thursday disbursed Sh5.5 billion as payment to smallholder tea farmers for the December 2022 green leaf deliveries.
The amount is inclusive of mini-bonuses for the half-year ending December 31, 2022.
KTDA announced that farmers can expect to receive payment into their accounts in the next few days depending on respective banks’ processes and timelines.
“Farmers have been waiting for this payment and we have made it right before schools open, to enable our farmers to meet their back-to-school obligations alongside other personal obligations,” KTDA Holdings chairman, David Ichoho said.
Of the total amount, Sh2.7 billion is the payment with respect to mini bonuses for the factories whose directors passed resolutions to pay mini bonuses to their farmers.
The balance of Sh2.8 billion will go towards paying farmers for the December green leaf delivered to factories.
Farmers will be paid between Sh5 and Sh10 as a mini bonus per kilo of green leaf delivered to their factories for the six months up to December 31, 2022.
The Sh2.7 billion mini bonus payment represents 449 million kilos of green leaf delivered to KTDA-managed factories over the six-month period.
KTDA MS – a subsidiary of KTDA Holdings – manages 71 tea factories across the country on behalf of smallholder tea farmers.
It was incorporated in 2009 as a private company under (CAP 486) of the laws of Kenya to manage smallholder tea factories on behalf of farmers.
Addressing a press conference in Nairobi, Ichoho said average tea prices for KTDA at the auction stood at Sh326 per kilogramme of made tea compared to Sh306 over the same period in the 2020-21 financial year.
“As part of the reforms, we promised our farmers that they will receive their pay by the 5th of the month, a promise we have dutifully kept. We have delayed slightly this month to enable us to compute the proper amounts to pay to farmers,” he added.
Funds to cater to these payments have been generated through the sale of tea over the period under consideration.
