Government bans Green Tea hawking to protect farmers’ earnings
The government has banned the hawking of green tea leaves and roadside collections in a bid to streamline the tea industry and improve farmers’ earnings.
The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) has cautioned tea producers and factories against engaging in such practices, warning that they violate industry regulations.
“All tea factories and producers are hereby cautioned against engaging in green leaf hawking, collection of green along the roadside where there are no collection centers, using green brokers, and using leaf collection vehicles that are not registered with the Board,” said TBK CEO Willy Mutai.
Mutai explained that the directive is part of ongoing reforms aimed at improving the sustainability and profitability of the sector.
He said controlling how green tea leaves are collected and sold will enhance the quality of processed tea, leading to better prices for farmers and investors.
“To actualize the above milestone, the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture has issued a directive to tea producers and factories and has banned green leaf malpractice and other forms of malpractices perpetuated by the tea factories, producers, green leaf brokers, and errant tea growers,” said Mutai.
Tea hawking occurs when farmers sell their green leaf to factories other than those they are registered with.
The practice has been growing due to the rise of private tea factories that offer higher prices to attract more farmers.
However, TBK has warned that this trend has contributed to a decline in tea quality, which in turn leads to lower earnings for farmers.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe recently said the government is implementing reforms to ensure farmers get better returns.
He added that new quality standards will be gazetted to prevent the harvesting and processing of low-quality tea.
Kagwe also announced plans to fully implement the Tea Act, 2020, by introducing additional regulations to strengthen the sector and protect farmers from unfair trade practices.
