The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has urged farmers not boycott tea harvesting as it would result in heavy and unnecessary losses.
The agency's call comes after tea farmers from the Mt. Kenya region threatened to boycott the harvesting of the crop due to lack of reforms in the sector.
Their ultimatum was that the National Assembly must pass the sector reforms bill that the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Peter Munya proposed.
Furthermore, the farmers threats were instigated by the issue regarding the agency's Chairman, Peter Kanyago, doubling as a broker. The farmers also blame the agency for poor bonus payments.
They claim that KTDA is impeding the implementation of the regulations proposed by Munya through various court cases it has filed.
However, according to the agency, the tea farmers' boycott will only cause losses in the sector. It also asserts that it will continue to be operational to avert the potential losses.
The agency stated, “In this regard, and to ensure that farmers do not incur any losses, the over 4,000 tea buying centres operated by KTDA-managed tea factories will remain operational and will collect green leaf from farmers as is the norm. Subsequently, the 69 factories under KTDA’s management will also remain operational.”
On addressing the fall in tea prices from 2019 to 2020, KTDA explained that smallholder tea production increased by 30 percent during the period and there was a significant surplus in tea production globally.
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