The government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has waived off taxes on packaging materials in a bid to raise farmer’s productivity and incomes through value addition.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting held at a Kericho hotel with Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA)-managed smallholder tea factory directors in the West of Rift Region on Tuesday, Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mutahi Kagwe said the government is committed to supporting the tea sector and working closely with key stakeholders to unlock new international markets for Kenyan tea.
“We want to make changes in the tea industry for farmers to benefit from their tea. We have removed taxes related to packaging materials a major contributor to high costs on value addition.” said CS Kagwe.
He urged tea farmers to focus on producing high quality tea and adhere to leaf-quality plucking that is defined by two leaves and a bud for them to earn higher bonuses in addition to attracting better returns in international markets.
“It is important that we have quality tea. Farming is business and we must look at it from a business point of view. We agree that it is two leaves and a bud. If you go to three leaves and a bud your quality will come down. If you go for four leaves and a bud you are already having problems. If you go to five leaves and a bud it will be less than one dollar. This is the truth; the quality of the tea is determined with the way you grow your tea. Also important is how we pluck the tea.” said CS Kagwe.
He blamed tea hawking for altering the quality of Kenyan and vowed to crack down on the practice in a bid to protect farmers by ensuring farmers deliver their teas directly to factories where quality standards can be upheld.
CS Kagwe hinted that Kenya was in the process of reclaiming the Iranian Orthodox tea market and expanding its presence in Pakistan.
Orthodox tea is quickly emerging as a sought after variety in the global tea market as it is distinguished by its traditional production methods that uphold integrity of the tea leaves resulting in a sharp distinguishable favor profile.
To further support farmers, CS Kagwe revealed that the ministry will collaborate with county governments to strengthen agricultural extension services in addition to training agripreneurs who will conduct field visits to farmers’ farms, guide farmers on soil quality, use of quality inputs and farming practices as well as value addition techniques.
“There is one area we want to grow, and this is the area of extension officer agripreneurs. This is one area I want to support and we work together with agripreneurs. They will visit farmers at their farms and advise them about quality of their tea. It is not enough to tell the farmer to improve his quality of tea when there is no one who is going to explain to him measures he has to take to improve the quality of his tea.
In the same breath he added that farmers will benefit from trainings that will equip them with new technologies, farming methods and market trends that will greatly increase their productivity and improve their tea quality.
Kericho County Governor Eric Mutai revealed that they were actively engaged in several initiatives to support and promote the tea industry in the area.
“As the county government, we are doing our bit to support the tea industry. One of the things we are doing is we are building tea-buying centers and we have acquired a good number of them in Kericho County. We are also doing access roads leading to the tea factories. We have also removed the cess taxes that we had imposed on farmers,” revealed Governor Mutai.
Present at the event were the Permanent Secretary (PS) State Department for Agriculture Dr. Kipronoh Ronoh Paul, Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) CEO Willy Mutai, TBK Chairman Ndugu Gathinji, KTDA Vice Chairman Erick Chepkwony, KTDA CEO Wilson Muthaura, Kericho County Commissioner Gilbert Kityo and Kericho Agriculture CEC Magerer Langat among other invited guests.
By Sarah Njagi
