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{
"id": 1502986,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502986/?format=api",
"text_counter": 226,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Ksh76.80 this year. Factories in East Block paid an average of Ksh78.10 this year and Ksh64.80 last year. In Kericho County, last year, factories paid Ksh55.10 and Ksh54.90 this year. Factories in Bomet County paid Ksh43 this year and Ksh51.50 last year. Factories in Nyamira paid Ksh54 this year and Ksh52.30 last year. Factories in Kisii paid Ksh44.30 last year and Ksh46.60 this year. Factories in Nandi, Vihiga and Trans Nzoia paid Ksh48.80 last year and Ksh50.90 this year. On average, factories to the west of the Rift Valley or the Western Block paid Ksh65.95 this year and Ksh59.10 last year. From the above analysis, it is apparent that the average total payment increased by 12 per cent from an average of Ksh52.02 in the year 2022/2023 to Ksh65.95 in the year 2023/2024. Likewise, the total payment to farmers increased by 34 per cent, that is, from Ksh67.6 billion in the year 2022/2023 to Ksh90.5 billion in the Financial Year 2023/2024. Notably, and due to the high volume of green leaf, farmers in some of the factories in the West Rift earned more income than those in the East Rift. The other issue was the measures the Ministry, through the relevant agencies such as the Tea Board of Kenya and the Kenya Tea Development Agency, is taking to ensure that all tea farmers receive fair, uniform, and transparent bonuses based on their production levels. The response is as follows: Generally, tea factories within the West Rift fetch lower prices compared to the ones in the East Rift due to quality differential occasioned by the farmers' husbandry practices. In addition, the cost of production in various factories differs owing to the differences in the style of management and the oversight by various factory boards of directors. Most factories in the West Rift Valley have loans for establishing satellite factories, which attract high financial costs as compared to the factories in the East Rift Valley. Therefore, it is not possible to have uniform payment, but it is possible to reduce the gaps between the factories in the two regions. Cognisant of the differences in tea prices, the Tea Board of Kenya has initiated a Strategic Tea Quality Improvement Programme (STQIP) which is aimed at assisting tea factories with lowest tea quality to improve and meet the market requirements. The Ministry has appointed a committee to develop a minimum standard on leaf quality, which once fully implemented, will address most of the quality challenges affecting the tea factories in the western tea block. Since green leaf quality is a key determinant factor to the quality of made tea, and which in turn determines the price of made tea offered by the buyers, the Tea Board of Kenya, in collaboration with the counties, will continue to sensitise farmers about it. Other measures taken by the Ministry include interventions aimed at reducing the cost of production at the farm level, which have been put in place in collaboration with the Kenya Tea Development Agency behalf of all the smallholder tea farmers. The KTDA imported 97,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser at a cost of Ksh3,400 per 50 kilogramme bag. To reduce the cost borne by the farmer to about Ksh2,500 per 50 kilogramme bag of fertiliser, the Government will allocate Ksh2 billion as fertilizer subsidy to the tea farmers. The Government support on access to fertilizer at subsidised prices has continued to enhance productivity at the farm level and the quality of tea and ultimately the earnings to the tea farmers as has been envisioned under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). The fertiliser imported by the KTDA is currently being distributed to farmers across tea growing areas. Finally, there was the question on the timeline within which the Ministry will address the disparity to ensure that tea farmers across the country are treated fairly. The response is that development of a draft of minimum standard on tea leaf quality is ongoing and expected to be completed by November 2024, which is by the end of this month. However, for it to be enforced, it requires proper public participation as required by the Constitution. The Ministry, therefore, requests the National Assembly to provide additional budgetary allocation to"
}