By E, KNA
Bomet Governor Hillary Barchok has urged tea farmers affiliated with the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factory companies to continue tending crop while the government and agencies mull over the prevailing low bonus payout to farmers.
In the recently released second payment for green leaf delivered, farmers in the West of the Rift Valley including Bomet County averagely earned Sh13 per kilo, down from an average of Sh25 last year.
The low pay has demoralized tea farmers in the area to the extent that some have since threatened to abandon tea farming altogether.
But Governor Barchok urged the farmers to remain patient despite the low bonus payout, experienced this year, saying that this was a temporary market low and the government was moving in to address the situation to enable farmers earn handsomely in the near future.
Speaking in Bomet, Barchok said that the government was set to securing reliable and better markets for their produce, hence no need to give up on tea farming.
He reiterated that the county government of Bomet had stepped up its push to have punitive regulations in the tea sector realigned for the benefit of the farmer.
The governor took particular exception with the initial regulations on tea sales, which compelled factories to sell through fixed agency auction rates rather than direct sales as it hindered the uptake of local teas by foreign markets.
Barchok noted that he has been fighting for direct sales of Kenya teas to foreign markets such as Iran and this was finally paying off.
He said that the resultant breakthrough has been through his efforts in seeking redress against Section 32(4) of Tea Act 2020, which gives brokers and other players in the value chain an edge during auction, to the disadvantage of the farmer.
The governor said his administration had to seek court redress against more sections of the Tea Act on behalf of the tea farmers to stall the implementation of the regulations until they are revised for the benefit of the farmer.
Consequently, the governor said that the county has lobbied for a raft of changes in the tea sector regulations such as allowing tea factory companies to engage in direct tea sales as opposed to agency auction sales only, to maximize farmer benefits.
He noted that the effort was a major breakthrough as it enabled tea factory companies from Bomet to export 13 million kilograms of processed tea to Iran last year.
