TEA NEWS #tea news

very good demand

Trade between Kenya and Pakistan hits USD 1B annually

Currently, KTDA uses a voting system based on the number of shares a farmer has, a system which many farmers claim only favoured those with big farms and many shares.

Good demand

Five tea factories managed by the Kenya Tea Development Agency in Meru County have embarked on a beekeeping venture as part of their long-term revenue diversification strategy and environmental sustainability program.

VERY GOOD DEMAND

The bonus payment is slightly lower than last year’s final payment of Ksh.28.8 billion. Nevertheless, the farmers’ total payment for the year is up by 11.6 per cent at Ksh.51.9 billion from Ksh.46.5 billion in 2019. Tea factories in Murang'a have paid out the highest cumulative compensation to farmers at Ksh.9.8 billion ahead of Meru and Kirinyaga at Ksh.5.8 billion and Ksh.5.4 billion respectively.

IMPROVED DEMAND AT MOSTLY DEARER RATES

• While Agriculture CS Peter Munya is pro new regulations, KDTA is in opposition • The authority believes the regulations will reduce its influence on the tea trade

The second payment for KTDA farmers in the financial year ended June 2020 went up slightly to Sh51 billion in the review period from Sh46 billion in the previous financial year.

Indian tea exporters fear that there will be a drop in export volume in the current year due to higher prices available in the domestic market, particularly of the CTC variety. The exporters also complained about the lack of availability of shipping containers due to fall in imports which has also led to a steep rise in freight rates.

· The oversupply of any commodity always leads to lower prices. · But this is Kenya, where we tend to assume that if there is any drop at all in farmers’ earnings, this can only be due to corruption.