Why smallholder tea farmers want autonomy from parent factories

Tea farmers in Kericho County have intensified calls for the separation of satellite tea factories from their parent factories.

The farmers, under the movement "No Separation, No Operation," have vowed to press forward with their demands until their concerns are addressed.

The farmers argue that the satellite factories have grown sufficiently and need independence to operate more efficiently and respond to the unique challenges they face.

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They believe that separating from the parent factories would allow for greater autonomy in decision-making, especially regarding financial management, bonuses, and use of new technology in tea processing.

The situation has left the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) grappling with finding a solution to the standoff.

Farmers have boycotted tea plucking and transportation, halting operations at Toror Tea Factory, as they push for independence from Tegat Tea Factory.

Similar tensions are brewing in Chelal, where farmers are calling for a split from Litein Tea Factory.

Toror tea farmers, led by Ainamoi Member of Parliament, Benjamin Langat, along with four Members of the Kericho County Assembly, gathered at Toror Tea Factory and declared that Toror tea factory must be allowed to operate independently in processing and selling tea, separate from Tegat.

“The current arrangement undermines transparency and accountability, with profits and bonus payments being pooled together instead of being distributed according to the individual performance of each factory,” said Langat.

The farmers further resolved that the annual tea bonus payments for both Toror and Tegat factories should be suspended until the separation is completed.

This, they said, would ensure that farmers from each factory receive their rightful share based on the performance of their respective factories.

“We declared ‘No Separation, No Operation,’ which means we will not only boycott the plucking of tea but also paralyze all operations at the factory until it becomes independent from Tegat,” said Ainamoi MCA Cheruiyot Bett.

One of the key challenges in this move is that members of the parent companies own shares in the satellite factories and funded their establishment.

This complicates the process, as satellite factories would need to buy out the parent firms, but there is reluctance among satellite members to pay back the funds used to establish their operations.

Meanwhile, in Chelal Tea Factory, Bureti Constituency, where similar calls for separation from Litein Tea Factory have been raised, Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Paul Rono directed KTDA to open and manage separate bank accounts for each of the 17 tea factories under the Agency’s management.

“We cannot continue with the current model of satellite factories. To ensure the production of high-quality tea, KTDA and the Tea Board of Kenya must immediately begin separating the operations of the 17 factories,” said PS Rono.

Tea Board of Kenya CEO Willy Mutai also weighed in on the matter, noting that Chelal Tea Factory ranks as the second-best-selling factory in KTDA’s West of Rift region. A kilogram of tea from Chelal sells at an average price of USD 321, compared to Litein Tea Factory’s USD 274.

He clarified that Chelal was licensed in 2009 as an independent company, not a satellite of Litein.

“If farmers continue to focus on plucking high-quality tea, the Tea Board of Kenya would consider increasing Chelal’s production capacity from the current 15 million kilograms to 25 million kilograms,” said Mutai.

In a statement on the separation of accounts, KTDA acknowledged the ongoing calls for separation and expressed its commitment to resolving the situation.

The agency, led by its Group CEO, held a tripartite meeting on Wednesday chaired by PS Rono and announced further consultative meetings with directors of the 27 satellite factories to deliberate on the issue.

“The agency is committed to the welfare of smallholder farmers, who are our key stakeholders, and we are keen on achieving a mutually beneficial outcome,” the statement read.

KTDA further urged farmers to continue plucking and delivering their tea during the consultation period.

Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot raised concerns over the delayed completion of the Chemosit Hydropower Project by KTDA, for which smallholder tea farmers had collectively contributed Sh970 million in 2018.

“We are disappointed that the project is only 47per cent complete, despite the significant investment and commitment from farmers,” Cheruiyot said.

The Senate Leader of Majority also urged the Tea Board of Kenya to develop an evidence-based tea testing system to eliminate bias in the quality ratings between tea produced in KTDA’s East and West of the Rift regions.

“We can no longer accept the current method of tea tasting, which relies on subjective assessments by tea brokers at the Mombasa tea auction. Their bias against tea from the South Rift is evident. We need a scientifically grounded system,” said Cheruiyot.