{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=148480","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=148478","results":[{"id":1502982,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502982/?format=json","text_counter":222,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Tigania West, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you Hon. Speaker. I have a response from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development on the Statement Hon. Dorice Donya requested. The request had three parts and the response is structured in three parts. The first part deals with the criteria used to determine the rate of annual bonuses paid to tea farmers across different regions and factories in Kenya. In response, the Ministry alludes that tea bonus is a second payment to tea farmers, which is paid at the end of the financial year. Each month, tea farmers are usually paid an initial amount of Ksh25 per kilogramme for tea factories in the East Tea Block, Ksh24 for tea factories in Kisii, Nyamira and Nandi, and Ksh23 for factories in Kericho, Bomet, Vihiga and Trans Nzoia. This is usually an advance against their green leaf delivery, since proceeds from tea are only realised 45 days from the delivery of the green leaf to the factory due to the timelines involved in the processing and sale activities. The bonus, which is a second payment, is therefore, the net of the price realised minus the cost of production, including the monthly payments. The second payment is usually dependent on two factors. Number one is the price realised at the tea auction. The price realised at the auction is dependent on the quality of tea produced by each factory, which is dependent on many factors including the quality of green leaf, that is, the agronomical practices and packing, post-harvest handling and manufacturing practices at the tea factory. In addition, the price of tea is also influenced by history - historical tea buyers’ perceptions regarding the quality of tea produced by a specific tea factory. Other key factors include the prevailing demand and political situation in the market and the effect of global economic shocks. There is a large table with different factory prices. I do not know whether, for the sake of the Members, I need to read it. It is about one-and-a-half pages."},{"id":1502983,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502983/?format=json","text_counter":223,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Hon. Speaker spoke off the record)"},{"id":1502984,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502984/?format=json","text_counter":224,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Tigania West, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia","speaker":null,"content":"The second issue in the determination of bonuses is the cost of production. The cost of production also varies from factory to factory, depending on various factors such as transportation, cost to Mombasa, labour and administration costs, and energy cost. Factories with efficient machinery and operations can realise lower costs of production. This means that a factory which realises a lower price and has a relatively higher cost of production will end up with lower net income and will, therefore, pay less bonus to farmers. The third issue is the process involved in bonus determination. Tea bonus is usually calculated at the end of each financial year, after all revenue and costs have been determined and financial statements prepared and audited by an external auditor. The financial statements are then presented to factory boards for approval, together with the proposed rate of bonus, subsequent to which the directors disseminate the same to factory shareholders or growers. The second issue in the request is the reasons behind the significant variations in bonus payments to tea farmers in the country. The disparities in bonus payments between different factories in the country are determined by the price realised at the tea auction and the cost of production. A summary of the bonus paid in the year 2023/2024 compared to year 2022/2023 is shown in the table provided. I will just give the average of the summaries. In the East Block, the first four factories, which are basically in Kiambu, paid an average of Ksh73 per kilogramme in the year 2023/2024. The previous year, the factories paid Ksh62.70 per kilogramme. Factories in Murang’a paid an average of Ksh81.5 this year and Ksh64.3 last year. Factories in Nyeri paid an average of Ksh74.40 this year and Ksh64.30 last year. Factories in Kirinyaga paid an average of Ksh77.10 this year and Ksh65.50 last year. Factories in Embu paid Ksh84.20 this year and Ksh64.20 last year. Factories in Meru paid Ksh67 last year and"},{"id":1502985,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502985/?format=json","text_counter":225,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Tigania West, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1502986,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502986/?format=json","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"},{"id":1502987,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502987/?format=json","text_counter":227,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Tigania West, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia","speaker":null,"content":"The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."},{"id":1502988,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502988/?format=json","text_counter":228,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Tigania West, UDA","speaker_title":"Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia","speaker":null,"content":"undertake public participation on guidelines/standards and other regulations necessary to address most of the quality challenges facing tea farm factories in the west tea block. The STQIP is a five-year programme which has been ongoing for the last two years, which is aimed at assisting tea factories with lowest tea quality to improve and meet the market requirements. The programme has achieved notable milestones and some factories in the west of the Rift have gradually started making improvements in the quality of tea produced, such as the Momul and Ogembo tea factories. The initiative on quality improvement programme is expected to ensure factories manufacture tea of high quality that is discerned by the market. Once this is achieved, prices of the affected factories are expected to improve gradually within a period of one year, taking into account the market dynamics of supply and demand in the global market. I submit."},{"id":1502989,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502989/?format=json","text_counter":229,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Hon. Dorice."},{"id":1502990,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502990/?format=json","text_counter":230,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kisii County, WDM","speaker_title":"Hon. Dorice Donya","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Speaker. It is very peculiar for the Committee to tell the Kisii Community that it is because of historical tea buyer perceptions that their bonuses are less. Perceptions. It is like saying, for example, that all African communities are wizards and night runners. You then believe such a perception. Telling the people of the Rift Valley, Kisii and Nyamira County that perceptions have made their farmers not to have good bonuses is an abuse. They are also talking of plucking. I am not a tea farmer, but from our neighbours, I know that they are told that when plucking tea, you pluck two leaves and bud. It is even taught in schools. They are making it reason as to why these people do not get good bonuses. Really? They also talk of political influence. It is as if in the Rift Valley, we have intense politics. An analyst can say that Kenyan political scenes are more or less the same. I take this answer back to the sender. It is half-baked. Please, have it back! It is not making any sense. Historical perceptions! Is that really what you are telling Kisii farmers? No! Back to the sender."},{"id":1502991,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1502991/?format=json","text_counter":231,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Speaker","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"Hon. Mutunga, return to sender."}]}