TEA NEWS #Kenya Tea

Some factories affiliated with Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) in the West Rift have been forced to revise their minimum price, by reviewing the cost at which they sell their teas to release thousands of kilos of the commodity held in the warehouses.

The prolonged battle between the Kericho County Government and the United Kingdom-based tea firms over the deployment of tea harvesting machines is far from over after massive job losses due to the introduction of mechanization.

Climate change is touching every aspect of our lives – including our daily cups of tea. Kenya and Malawi are the African continent’s largest tea producers and exporters, together accounting for about 27% of global tea trade. Tea producers in the two countries have already seen what damage climatic shifts can do, as damaging droughts, frost and high temperatures are already becoming more common.

VERY GOOD DEMAND AT MOSTLY DEARER RATES BP1 : East KTDA 6/25 cts dearer with selected best quality lots substantially dearer. West KTDA steady to 4 cts easier. Nandi 5 cts easier to 8 cts dearer following selected quality. Limuru firm. Kericho up to 14 cts easier. Uganda 4 cts easier to 7 cts dearer following make.

SELECTIVE DEMAND, STRONG ON QUALITY BP1 : Selected quality East KTDA dearer 10/70 cts others steady to easier 2/20 cts, West KTDA mostly firm on reserve prices, Nandi steady to easier 10/20 cts, good leaf and liquor Limuru and Kericho firm to dearer 2/10 cts others easier 2/12 cts, Uganda firm to dearer 5/20 cts.

Multinationals push for minimum USD 1.83 (Sh200) price for a kilo of tea. The multinational tea firms want to set the minimum price of tea at more than Sh200 for a kilo to break even, which will be Sh20 above the reserve price the government set on purchases of the smallholders’ produce.

The industry supports over 650,000 farmers and over 6.5 million people In Summary • The teas sold at an average of Sh264 per kg in the week ended August 2 compared to Sh249.17 at the previous auction. • This as the market continued to positively embrace the minimum price regime that was introduced in July 2021.

•This follows a notice by Mt Kenya Tea farmers threatening to boycott tea picking from October 5 to protest against KTDA’s exploitation. •The farmers said failure by the agency to do away with the court cases that it filed to block the implementation of the tea regulations would spark protests from all tea growing areas.

•They said regulations introduced by Agriculture Minister Peter Munya would reform the tea sector and increase their earnings. •Governor Ongwae said the reforms are geared towards repositioning the tea industry towards profitability and global competitiveness.

• Farmers are crying foul over last week’s second and final bonus payment from the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA). • Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya commissioned a study to evaluate the impact of commercial activities, behaviour and, earnings of KTDA smallholders farmers. • Unfortunately, the kind of data the CS is looking for cannot help him achieve the intended purpose, which, in my view, is key to how farmers can productively gain from tea growing. • The injustice against smallholder farmers are systemic and historical. All the government needs to correct the situation is the desire and commitment to do so.

Traders say they did not participate in the making of the regulations In Summary • The Ministry of Agriculture had scheduled the implementation for June. • The regulations were expected to bring in major changes in how tea is traded in Kenya.