The government has rejected dissolving the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) despite growing agitations among tea farmers over alleged poor governance and questionable financial matters at the agency.
Instead, the Agriculture Ministry has pledged to tighten oversight, restructure governance arrangements, and implement a series of reforms to restore the trust of the country’s tea smallholder farmers.
Speaking on Thursday, October 9, Agriculture Principal Secretary Dr. Kipronoh Ronoh owned up to the complaints raised by the farmers namely protests against price disparities between tea zones, excessive boardroom perks, and poor internal controls.
“Let it be clear: disbandment of KTDA is not the answer,” Dr. Ronoh swore. “What is required is total restructuring of its governance and operational structure.”
Farmers, especially from the West Rift, have complained about their bonus payment and the overall transparency of KTDA operations in the last few weeks. The protest follows the issuing of final green leaf payments for the 2024/25 financial year. The farmers say the payments were lower than expected.
The PS pinned the low earnings on several factors. These are the appreciation of the Kenyan currency against the US dollar a factor that negatively affects export earnings and a drop in tea prices in the international market. To blame for the decrease in the earnings is also the sale of carry-over tea stock at discounted prices after the reserve price was dropped, he indicated.
To allay concerns of regional disparities in bonus payments, Dr. Ronoh explained that tea quality of the East Rift region, coupled with lower cost of production, has given farmers in the region a comparative edge over their counterparts in the West Rift.
“These are facts dictated by market forces and production costs not prejudice,” he said.
While the ministry has so far failed to dissolve KTDA, it has declared a package of reforms designed to increase transparency and restore accountability.
Among the reforms in the pipeline:
Greater oversight of board expenditure and sitting allowances
More stringent enforcement of stringent internal controls and exhaustive financial audits
A radical shake-up of KTDA’s governance structure
Prohibition of meeting and allowance for directors
In addition to internal changes, the ministry has also developed sectoral strategies to enhance farmers’ support and raise the competitiveness of Kenyan tea on the international market.
Some of them include:
Upgrading tea factories to enhance efficiency and lower production costs
Implementing a Tea Quality Analysis Laboratory in Mombasa for maintaining international standards
Eliminating VAT on tea and packaging materials for facilitating local value addition and packaging
Sustainable, long-term transformations alone will shield the livelihoods of smallholder tea farmers,” Dr. Ronoh said. “There are over 10 million Kenyans who are supported by tea, and we cannot possibly get this one wrong.”
The PS came out a day after KTDA announced that the last payments for the 2024/25 financial year would be issued to farmers prior to Wednesday, October 15, 2025. The money will be directly deposited into farmers’ accounts and will include proceeds of green leaf deliveries received in September.
