Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Peter Munya, has proposed a new set of regulations seeking to protect the tea farmers from exploitation.
According, to the CS, the Kenyan tea needs to be sold through the auction process, with all the licensed tea auction organizations having to establish a trading platform.
Also, the proposal seeks to have tea farmers marketing the produce via Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to be cashed 50% of the delivery monthly, and an annual bonus.
A down payment of 10% will need to be made by green leaf buyers and the balance made before the product is exported.
According to the proposal, a single broker will be representing 15 factories at the tea auction.
In the event when the key stakeholders approve the regulation, it will mean the selling of tea via private treaty will be illegal.
The proposal, if approved, will have tea not sold during a particular auction being re-listed for sale on the following auction event.
The farmers will further be required to settle the balance to farmers 30 days after receiving the auction proceedings.
With the new regulations, various changes will take place in the KTDA, with the prices having to shift from the previous Ksh14 to Ksh16 per kilogram of tea per month.
Kenya tea sector earned over Ksh117 billion from exporting the products in 2019, and Ksh22 billion through local sales. Kenya tops in black tea exportation.
