Tea farmers from Borabu Constituency in Nyamira County have now demanded increased prices for the commodity to fit the current cost of living.
Yesterday, farmers gathered from all sub-sections of the region condemned the Kenya Tea Development Authority for paying little despite the current economic depression that is being witnessed not only in the country but also globally.
Nyansiong’o factory Vice Chairperson Mrs. Rachael Orina blamed the current market for paying little despite the Tea Authority trying to fix the matter.
“I understand your plight and it is not negotiable. But as representatives of KTDA am aware that we have tried to bargain for better payment but all in vain. I promise that we will try to put more effort to curb the predicament”, she said.
Mrs. Orina also reminded farmers to take advantage of the rains to spray their crops to improve their yield in order to compete with the global market.
“We have abundant fertilizers in place. Please take advantage of these rains and do the necessary. We want to compete in terms of output with our friends from other regions”, she added.
However, farmers present condemned the tea authority for what they termed as “fraud, grand corruption and maladministration” in managing welfare of farmers.
“We understand what is going on. They decided to reduce our bonuses to only 14 Kshs instead of the usual 30kshs. We have the solution and we won’t allow the management whether in the region or national to continue in office”, said Mr. Tom Okioma a veteran farmer.
They threatened to uproot the crop and look for other better methods for survival. Nyansiong’o tea factory for instance only managed to pay farmers 14Ksh per Kilo in this year bonuses compared to 40Ksh last year. Other surrounding factories paid less than 10Ksh.