Four tea factories from Nyamira County have signed a memorandum that will see cooperate to deal with the acute shortage of capacity due to increased yields.
Many tea farmers are said to be overstaying in buying centers waiting for transportation vehicles in some regions, a problem that has been linked with improved output from their farms.
Speaking to this writer on an exclusive interview on Friday, Nyansiongo Tea Factory director Rachael Orina said the four factories (Nyansiongo, Tombe, Nyankoba and Sang’anyi) have agreed to work together to combat the acute capacity problem that is being experienced.
“We are all aware that some factories are unable to handle increased quantity of tea produce coming for processing. We have signed an agreement that will see us work together. We do not want to see incidents in which our farmers take unnecessarily long to sell their produce to us,” Orina said.
“We are expecting that a factory to surrender the surplus to another factor, with management’s approval for processing. This however will not affect farmers because it’s a management issue,” she added.
Orina confirmed that the agreement will be effected from Monday , October 16, and is expected to last till the long rains subside.
“Factories will bear their own transport costs and that will take effect from Monday perhaps till the rains subsides because the increased quantities is as a result of rains. Otherwise I insist it’s a management issue hence we don’t expect it to affect farmers,” she added.