Farmers allied to Ngere tea factory in Gatanga Sub County have called for a policy review in the Tea Factory Act 2021, arguing some clauses in the Act have failed to address key challenges in the sector.
The farmers noted that the Tea Act has created ineffective reserve price policy instead of improving farmers’ earnings and regulating the tea sector.
Leading the farmers, KTDA Zone 2 board member James Githinji noted that the reserve price mechanism was meant to stabilise and protect tea farmers but it has not achieved its intended purpose.
He called for the review of the policy but warned that the scrapping of the reserve price policy as suggested by some farmers may subject tea to be sold at a loss.
“The reserve price policy cushions farmers against volatile global tea markets. If removed, they risk their tea being sold at a loss. Let’s review the policy to achieve its intended purposes.” Stated the board member during the Annual General Meeting held at the factory.
Githinji further observed that the agitation for removal of the reserve price cap is attributed to an increased backlog of unsold tea from farmers and tea estates who have compromised quality.
He said that unless farmers and factories observe keenly on the quality of tea they produce, the backlog at the Mombasa auction will persist.
One of the local farmers Felix Mwangi observed that the proposal to increase the factory’s operational deductions from Sh1.50 to Sh2.00 per kilo of delivered green leaf, which was announced during this year’s factory AGM, will further reduce farmers’ earnings.
“For a while, the factory has been deducting Sh1.50 per kilo to cover administrative and operational costs, but the recent proposal to increase the deductions to Sh2.0 will cause more harm to the farmers,” remarked Mwangi.
Additionally, Mwangi claimed that the government has not yet paid its debt of Sh92 million to Ngere Tea Factory farmers, crippling the services of the facility.
He also urged the government to make subsidized fertilizers more accessible to reduce their production costs.
“With availability of subsidised fertiliser, we will be able to afford other critical inputs and safeguard our livelihoods,” he added.
The farmers decried that they are still being charged Sh3, 400 per 50-kilo bag of fertiliser against a price of Sh2, 500 that the government had promised.
By Bernard Munyao
