TEA NEWS

•The direct shareholding allows farmers to have a seat at the KTDA Holdings Board. •It gives them more control over their assets, currently worth more than Sh36 billion.

• They have petitioned the government to kick out their predecessors • Say all they want is to restore the farmer's lost glory. The rights of tea farmers must be respected

•Companies Act demands that directors must ensure that, among other things, their company secretary holds certification from ICPSK. •Susan Wanjiru Macharia was recently appointed company secretary of Githongo, Weru, Imenti, Kinoro, Kionyo, Kiegoi and Michimikuru Tea Factories Companies Limited.

The enactment of the Tea Act 2020 is a key milestone in the reforms agenda. The Act provides a raft of regulatory mechanisms for ensuring order, transparency and accountability in the tea value chain.

SELECTIVE DEMAND

Tea was first introduced to Sri Lanka in 1839 with the planting of a batch of tea seeds in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya (Weatherstone, 1986). The first commercial tea plantation was started by James Taylor in 1867 by utilizing 19 acres of land on the Loolkandura Estate in the Kandy district (Nathaniel, 1986). Taylor visited India in 1866 to learn the basics of tea growing as plantations to expand the tea cultivation in Sri Lanka. The first fully equipped tea factory was started by Taylor in the Loolkandura Estate in 1872 and the first shipment of 23 pounds of ‘Ceylon tea’ was exported to the London tea auction in 1875. From that point, Ceylon tea was exported to the London and Melbourne auctions regularly and its success led to the opening of an auction market in Colombo in 1883.

Mununga Tea Factory staff in Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga County, Tuesday, witnessed a rare incidence after the Factory Manager was thrown out of his staff quarters by new directors.Things turned sour when the Manager in question, Franklin Kinoti, failed to attend the first boardroom meeting organized by the new factory directors that had brought onboard factory staff members and other stakeholders.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS), Peter Munya, Attorney General, Paul Kihara and the National Assembly were the respondents in the case filed by Dr.Barchok on behalf of the County Government.

While worldwide demand for tea grows, tea producing countries face challenges due to their susceptibility to climate change. In early May, the vulnerability of Kenya – one of the top four black tea exporters of the world – to climate change made headlines. Unusual rainfall patterns and rising temperatures resulted in floods, droughts, plagues and locusts could harm tea farming in the country.

Mr Joseph Nyang’au is a man at a crossroads. For the past 15 years, he has been selling eucalyptus seedlings to Gusii residents and this has been his only source of livelihood. But a directive by the Kisii County government requiring residents to uproot the tree from riparian land has rattled him. His business has been on the decline, with buyers of his seedlings getting fewer by the day. The Nation caught up with him at his Bobaracho farm near Kisii town.

Tea Market Report Sale 21-2021 on GOOD GENERAL DEMAND CLOSELY FOLLOWING QUALITY

This was a key takeaway from a FAO-hosted virtual high-level event to mark the International Tea Day 2021. “Celebrating tea is celebrating peace, culture and hope,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu in his opening remarks. Adding that: “Tea can play an important role in our journey to build back better. Being the most widely consumed drink in the world after water, tea brings people together to share stories and ways of life.”