The push to improve Kenya’s tea industry is taking a new turn, with Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe telling factories to keep out green leaf that falls below the required quality as the government invests billions of shillings in modernising processing plants.
Kagwe said the two leaves and a bud standard must be followed at the factory level, warning that farmers who take care to produce quality leaf should not suffer losses when it is mixed with inferior produce.
He spoke during a visit to Kapsara Tea Factory in Trans Nzoia, where he linked better factory equipment to the need for improved raw materials from farmers.
“If we have agreed that quality tea is two leaves and a bud, then that is what must come to the factory,” Kagwe said.
The CS said poor-quality leaf lowers the value of the tea produced after processing and can have a direct effect on what farmers eventually earn.
“We cannot have farmers who are doing the right thing being punished because a few others bring poor-quality leaf which is then processed together with theirs,” he said.
Kagwe said the ongoing investment in tea factories should therefore be matched by greater attention to the quality of green leaf supplied by growers.
Kapsara Tea Factory is among the facilities set to benefit from the government's factory improvement efforts, after Kagwe handed over Sh44.6 million for the installation of a new withering plant.
The new plant is expected to replace old equipment that uses a lot of electricity, helping the factory cut processing costs while improving energy efficiency.
The government also expects the upgrades to support the production of higher-value tea products as part of efforts to increase the returns generated from Kenya's tea industry.
Kagwe said such investments must be accompanied by quality improvements from the farm, since better machinery alone cannot guarantee better returns.
He cited Momul Tea Factory as evidence of what improved green-leaf quality can achieve. Kagwe said the value of tea from the factory increased from about US$2 to more than US$3 per kilogramme after the quality of green leaf was improved.
He said the real measure of progress should be the amount of money that ends up in farmers' pockets.
Beyond upgrading factories, Kagwe said Kenya must widen its focus to include orthodox, specialty and value-added teas instead of depending heavily on traditional tea markets.
He said the government's tea-sector plan brings together factory upgrades, market development, research and value addition as part of efforts to strengthen the industry and improve farmer earnings.
Earlier this year, Kagwe announced a Sh3.7 billion concessional financing facility to support the modernisation of tea factories.
The broader Sh7.1 billion programme is aimed at replacing ageing equipment, improving factory efficiency and creating room for greater production of higher-value tea.