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{
    "id": 978984,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/978984/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 190,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Thika Town, Independent",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Wainaina Jungle",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13492,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Kimani Wainaina Jungle",
        "slug": "patrick-kimani-wainaina-jungle"
    },
    "content": "anything to West Africa. Kenya Airways goes to West Africa on a daily basis. What can we do so that we can have a second flight going to West Africa with only cargo? If we can get down to it, we can tap the African market. Remember that after China, Africa is the next biggest growing market. It is good to take note of that. Even as we talk of tea as a commodity, can KTB ensure that we have a buffer fund? Tea is a commodity and you cannot control commodity prices. One time the demand is high and another time it is low. If we have a buffer fund, the farmer will get some kind of equalisation in his or her earnings and wait until the following year when the prices improve. When it comes to payment, you will find that a farmer gets 10 per cent and a 90 per cent bonus. The bonus comes after 12 months. What is the problem with this? The farmer needs fertiliser and is required to pay for labour. I prefer that if a farmer is paid 50 per cent on a monthly basis, he can also get a 50 per cent bonus so that he remains afloat. KTB is responsible for licensing brokers. At the end of the day, those brokers are the source of the problem. Let us try to eliminate brokers as much as we can, especially for the green leaf tea. Let us ensure that the farmer can be reached so that they can deliver their tea to the factories or centres as it were. Finally, there are 54 factories in this country. Those factories are sometimes run like kiosks. When you look at how those factories weigh the farmers’ tea, you will find that a farmer has tea weighing 100 kilos but the factory records it as 70 kilos. We need professionalism in those factories. Is it possible for those 54 factories to make an apex body? While KTB remains a regulator, we could have an apex body that is quoted at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE). Those factories will become corporate holders with direct ownership to that apex body. Every farmer will have the advantage of good audit and everything that goes with the accountability of the NSE. I support that we create the KTB."
}