Kenya Tea Growth Company (KTDA), Mr Chege Kirundi with Agriculture Cupboard Secretary Mr Magahi Kagwe. PHOTO/KTDA.
By DAVID ROP
Tea leaf hawking is a major difficulty going through the tea sector within the nation, the chairman of the Kenya Tea Growth Company (KTDA), Mr Chege Kirundi, has mentioned.
Mr Kirundi, who was talking throughout a tea stakeholders’ discussion board chaired by Agriculture Cupboard Secretary Mr Magahi Kagwe, defined that tea hawking was notably prevalent within the western area and required pressing consideration.
“Now we have invested closely in establishing tea factories; sadly, a few of these factories are working under capability as a result of we can’t supply sufficient produce as a result of tea hawking. This has posed a severe problem to our tea factories within the western area,” he mentioned.
Mr Kirundi pressured the necessity for sharing knowledge on key points of the tea sector, notably in order that farmers are knowledgeable concerning the knowledge driving the difficulty of tea hawking within the nation.
He known as for the sharing of data on tea producers, together with their particulars, and added that governance ought to embody full disclosure of useful shareholders.
“We request full disclosure when it comes to governance and the introduction of recent moral administration practices in commerce, which is able to assist us perceive the best way to compete and develop aggressive methods for shifting ahead.”
The KTDA chairman recognized taxation as one other important problem going through the tea trade and urged Mr Kagwe to contemplate suspending some taxes or abolishing them altogether, as they had been damaging the sector.
Kenya Tea Growth Company (KTDA) group CEO and managing director, Mr Wilson Muthaura, talking on the tea stakeholders discussion board in Mombasa. PHOTO/KTDA.
“We need to reiterate that the federal government ought to evaluation the difficulty of taxation within the tea sector, as it’s negatively affecting the trade,” he mentioned.
Mr Kirundi famous that tea advertising was a essential difficulty for KTDA, and extra efforts can be devoted to advertising initiatives. He additionally highlighted manufacturing prices as one other problem within the tea trade that required consideration.
He added that KTDA had launched new initiatives refocusing on the tea farmer, because the company’s precedence is to make sure that tea farmers obtain honest worth for his or her produce.
Mr Kirundi famous that lots of the challenges going through the tea trade can be addressed by a report launched by Mr Kagwe, which offers knowledge to spur improvement within the tea sector.
“On behalf of tea growers, I count on that you simply disclose all of the gamers KTDA is competing with and people we collaborate with. When it comes to the East African Tea Commerce Affiliation (EATTA), allow us to have full disclosure of its members,” he mentioned.
He added that it was essential for tea farmers to know who they’re coping with, together with consumers, hawkers, and producers, as a part of efforts to enhance governance within the administration of the tea sector.
Mr Kirundi concluded that though tea farmers have been recognised as key gamers within the tea trade, they obtain the least of what’s generated from the sector.
He emphasised that the main focus needs to be on enhancing the welfare of tea farmers.
