TEA NEWS #Kenya Tea

Tea Market Report Sale 05-2023 BP1 : East KTDA up to 12 easier observing reserve prices. West KTDA firm at reserve priceswith selected types 8/12 cts dearer and reprints neglected. Nandi 11/34 cts dearer.Limuru firm to 10 cts dearer. Kericho up to 10 cts easier with selected better made typesfirm to 16 cts dearer. Uganda 8 cts easier to 10 cts dearer following make.

Agriculture is one of the sectors Kenya is most competitive in globally. It is a key driver of our economy with about 60 per cent of Kenyans deriving their livelihoods from agricultural-based economies.

Tea from western Kenya continues to perform dismally at the auction as the minimum price continues to take a toll on the beverage, which recorded an absorption rate of 32 percent this week.

FAIR DEMAND AT IRREGULAR RATES BP1 : Selected best East KTDA dearer 23/48 cts others easier 8/27 cts, West KTDA mostly easier 3/12 cts with some heavily discounted by 40 cts, Nandi easier 16/40 cts, Limuru easier 10/26 cts, Kericho easier 8/16 cts, Uganda easier 13/22 cts.

A family of four in Bomet County is seeking for justice after their nine-year-old son was killed by a tea-harvesting machine. Emmanuel Kipkurui, who was slashed by the self-propelled machine is said to have been driven by curiosity to know how the machine was operated.

The Ministry of Agriculture says it will table to the Cabinet a request by tea traders to have the 16 percent value-added tax on packaging material and 35 percent duty on imported papers to be scrapped to allow them to sell the beverage to new markets other than the traditional ones currently facing economic woes.

By placing a base price, teas that do not attract this $2.43 are left unsold which raises the quantity of unsold stocks. Buyers are now getting alternative teas from other markets and factories, at the expense of KTDA farmers. One of the main issues that have faced small-scale tea farmers is the low prices of their tea leaves

Almost a dozen smallholder tea factories are seeking to dispose off parcels of land acquired in the last one decade to produce wood fuel to power boilers. The acquisition of the land spread mostly in semi-arid areas was seen as a cheaper solution to their power needs as the factories diversified from using furnace oil-powered boilers to those fired by wood fuel.

Tea farmers have a reason to smile and hope for better returns following the launch of a new clone that is high-yielding and drought resistant by the Tea Research Institute (TRI). Tea Research Institute (TRI) has called on tea farmers to embrace the new clone TRFK 31/8 which they say is also resistant to diseases, has wide adaptability to ever-changing weather patterns.

• The PSs pledged to work closely with other government agencies to address the issues raised. • They encouraged the EATTA to work on value addition of tea and expansion of the export market to curb over-reliance on traditional markets.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mithika Linturi has assured tea farmers that the government is putting in place necessary measures to improve their output and earnings.

SELECTIVE DEMAND AT IRREGULAR RATES WITH REPRINTS NEGLECTED BP1 : East KTDA 9/28 cts dearer. West KTDA firm at reserve prices to 4 cts dearer with reprints mostly neglected. Nandi up to 26 cts dearer. Limuru 4/16 cts dearer. Kericho up to 20 cts easier with selected better made types firm to 10 cts dearer.