Ease tea farmers’ gloom

Tea farmers are going through a rough time. The pomp and excitement that characterised the tea bonus season, with growers savouring their earnings, are gone.

Bonus payments to farmers brought alive the townships in the regions that grow the cash crop, which has, for years, been one of Kenya’s major foreign exchange-earners. This is a clear case of boom-to-gloom, with the past fun glaringly missing.

It is certainly one of the worst years for the towns of Kericho, Bomet, Nandi, Nyeri, Meru, Embu and Kiambu, which would by now have been reverberating with frenzy.

As the farmers suffer, so do market traders, shopkeepers, bar and restaurant owners and boda boda, as the usual excitement from the payments windfall is gone.

It is not difficult to see why it is gloomy after the Kenya Tea Development Agency factories disbursed bonuses to the farmers. The growers’ earnings dropped from Sh62.88 billion in 2022 to Sh44.15 billion last year.

However, in 2023, tea farmers injected Sh140 billion into the economy from exports, compared to Sh138 billion in 2022 and Sh136 billion in 2021. However, to many farmers, these statistics mean little as their earnings have declined.

In the past, farmers lavishly spent money on merrymaking. Today, their purchasing power has declined, and the tea bonus season is no longer vibrant. Many are heavily indebted, and their earnings are eaten up before they are received. This year has been a terribly low season for the farmers. The effects of the national economic challenges are biting.

Loans taken during the year have also significantly reduced the final payouts to the farmers. The rising cost of production has also eaten into their earnings. Fertiliser costs, though subsidised by the government, are also being felt.

To boost their earnings, farmers need to maintain high standards, increase efficiency, improve quality and avoid wastefulness.