TEA NEWS #tea news

GOOD DEMAND

Traders say they did not participate in the making of the regulations In Summary • The Ministry of Agriculture had scheduled the implementation for June. • The regulations were expected to bring in major changes in how tea is traded in Kenya.

Farmers in Kiambu County frustrated by poor returns of coffee and tea are shifting from growing the two cash crops to the more lucrative macadamia trees to make good earnings.

Temperatures in some parts of the county have gone as low as less than 10 degrees Celsius with other parts receiving light rains.

• The former PS said tea prices have increased by a dollar barely a month after Agriculture CS Peter Munya put his foot down regarding the direct sale of tea by KTDA. • Nyakera said after the sale of the tea at the Mombasa auction, the money is channelled to a pool bank account owned by KTDA and only 30% is paid to farmers monthly.

What you need to know: • It has been a source of dispute between the allotees and squatters who say it is ancestral land. • NLC Vice Chairman James Tuitoek reversed the allocation to the prominent personalities he did not name. • Several tea and sugar multinationals own huge tracts of land in Nandi and neighbouring counties. • Soy MP Caleb Kositany also asked the government to revert grabbed lands to their owners.

The impact then turned into cascading losses that affected tea markets.

GOOD DEMAND: Tea Market Report Sale 36-2020

Imenti growers say cartels deprive them of their hard-earned cash. In Summary • Munya was accompanied to the events by Imenti South MP Kathuri Murungi, Imenti Central MP Kirima Ngushine and East Africa Legislative Assembly MP Mpuru Aburi. • He said he will press on to ensure farmers get good prices of coffee, tea, milk, cotton, macadamia, bananas and other farm produce.

What you need to know: • An official at AFA said agencies’ preparation of own bills as they prepare to revert to the previous independent bodies had started • Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya said the government was forming a task force to examine the work and achievements of AFA since its inception.