Agriculture
Directors picked by farmers in the just concluded Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) elections have vowed to ensure at least two new factories are built in Bomet County to decongest existing ones.
Rono Kipngeno was elected to represent tea farmers in the Ndaraweta Zone and his Singorwet Zone counterpart Robert Rono said the delays in the collection of green leaves was a concern that needed to be addressed.
Leading the calls, Rono said farmers are losing thousands of Kilograms of their produce due to delays and sometimes failure to collect green leaf due to congestion in existing factories saying he will prioritize the push for setting up of new satellite factories.
“We are facing an increased production that is causing congestion in Tirgaga, Kapkoros, and Motigo tea factories and we will ensure that at least two factories are set up soonest so that no produce goes to waste because of delays in collecting from buying centers,” said Rono.
In his sentiments, Kipngeno said previous plans to set up a factory in the Kamogos area of Chesoen and Tegat should be fast-tracked. He said it is a concern they are going to push and ensure money is allocated.
“Farmers should wait for good news, no produce will ever go to waste or farmers forced to stay overnight in buying centers while waiting for their green leaf to be collected,” said Kipngeno. The waste of produce due to delays in collection dominated the campaigns for election in all zones within Bomet County seeing some voted out.
Alexander Rono a farmer from Singorwet said the biggest headache farmers are facing is poor collection which has forced them to reduce the number of days in week farmers are allowed to pick tea. “Sadly, we are forced to pick tea twice a week because of weak policies by current management and we are demanding that the new directors take action so that we do not continue making losses,” said Rono.
David Ngeny from Tegat faulted previous directors for failing to push for an increased number of factories. “We have directors who lost touch with what farmers go through and that is how we lost as farmers. We have made noise on the need for the number of factories so that they can meet the demand,” Ngeny said.
He said the low prices they get are because of the late collection of tea leaves from buying centers that lower the quality thus fetching low prices in markets. “We know that quality processed tea fetch very high prices which are replicated to farmers’ earnings and that is only possible when picked leaves are collected on time,” added Ngeny.
Simon Mutai who has been re-elected to represent Tegat Chemaner Zone said the concerns of farmers are right. Mutai said it was a wake-up call to them and that they were going to demand the two identified factories.
He at the same time asked farmers to embrace new clones of tea that are high yielding so that factories will meet the demands.