Murang’a County farmers received Sh17.8 billion from tea sales through the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) in the year ended June 2024, beating 13 other tea-producing counties.
This translates to 19.9 percent of the total earnings of Sh89.2 billion that smallholder tea farmers received from sales through KTDA during the period.
The agency manages 54 tea factories which have a membership of 700,000 smallholder tea farmers.
According to official data from the agency, tea farmers from Meru received the second largest share amounting to Sh10.3 billion, while tea farmers from Bomet got Sh10 billion.
Kirinyaga and Kericho also made strong showings, with smallholder tea farmers from the two counties receiving Sh9.5 billion and Sh8.9 billion respectively, while those from Kiambu earned Sh7.9 billion.
In Nyeri, tea farmers got a share amounting to Sh6.6 billion, while in Nyamira and Embu, they received Sh6 billion and Sh5 billion respectively.
At the same time, small-scale tea farmers from Kisii got Sh2.6 billion from KTDA during the period, while those from Tharaka Nithi received Sh1.6 billion.
In Nandi, KTDA disbursed Sh1.5 billion to tea farmers, while in Vihiga and Trans Nzoia, they received Sh576.9 million and Sh389.2 million.
The earnings that tea farmers make are not only dependent on the volumes of tea they sell but also on the quality of the green leaf. Higher quality teas are in high demand from exporters, therefore fetching better prices.
KTDA makes monthly payments to tea farmers based on green leaf delivered to the factories as well as a bonus at the end of the financial year.
In the year to June 2024, the company’s cumulative payments hit Sh89.21 billion, marking a growth of 30.7 percent from total payments of Sh68.22 billion in the previous year.
KTDA attributed the increased payments to tea farmers to a favorable exchange rate especially in the first half of the financial year as well as increased production of tea.
Tea volumes jumped to 1.412 billion kilogrammes during the period, marking a significant growth from 1.146 billion kilogrammes in the previous year.
At the same time, the US dollar appreciated significantly against the Kenya Shilling in the year under review, exchanging at an average of 144.21 units compared to an average 126.15 the previous year.
As a result, a kilo of tea from KTDA-managed factories fetched an average of Sh379 in the year under review compared to Sh341 in the previous year.
“This price improvement, aided by a strong US dollar, positively influenced the overall
performance of KTDA subsidiary companies, as well as the second payments made to farmers at the end of the financial year,” said KTDA Group CEO Wilson Muthaura.
Due to the increased sales, KTDA’s revenues jumped to Sh38.6 billion, up from Sh28.4 billion in the year ended June 2023. The company charges tea factories a management fee of 2.5 percent of the net value of tea sold through the company.
