Small Scale Tea Famers Staring at Huge Bonus

By John Kariuki

The factory boards of all KTDA factories are meeting between 20th to 30th to review the accounts and make declaration for bonus payments rates.

Small-scale tea growers affiliated with the Kenya Tea Development Agency are expecting the highest tea bonus, the agency has announced.

“This year’s bonus is projected to be the highest to be paid to tea farmers across the tea growing counties since 2016,” said David Ichoho the Chairman of the New KTDA

The main bonus will be paid in full by July 8 in line with the tea reforms introduced in the Tea Act, 2020.

The reforms made provisions for the balance due to the tea grower to be fully remitted within three months of the end of the financial year.

Previously farmers received their bonus in October.

Ichoho says that monthly payments to farmers are also being made by the 1st week of every month as opposed to the 3rd week.

“In July 2021, a mini-bonus for the last financial year amounting to Sh1.3 billion paid to the smallholder tea growers,” he added.

The setting of the reserve price has enabled KTDA to enhance the initial green leaf monthly payments to the smallholder tea grower from Sh17 to between Sh20 and Sh21 per kilogram.