Tea farmers across Kenya are calling for higher and more predictable returns as the government rolls out reforms aimed at improving production, market access, value addition and earnings across the tea value chain.
For growers such as Kennedy Kemboi of Baraton in Nandi County, the increase in the price of green leaf has provided some relief, but rising farm costs continue to eat into household incomes.
“The price of green leaf per kilo has now risen to Sh26. I am able to pay the farm workers and remain with some money to meet my needs,” Kemboi said.
Kemboi farms seven acres of tea and relies on subsidised fertiliser to help manage production costs. His factory pays farmers in two instalments, including a monthly payment and an annual bonus.
However, he says farmers are still losing part of their expected earnings because of outstanding factory debts.
“Our factory is still servicing a Sh1.2 billion loan, which means farmers bear the burden. If the declared bonus is Sh20 per kilo, we end up receiving Sh12,” he said.
Kemboi wants the government to consider clearing the loan to ease the financial burden on growers.
Farmers demand better pay
In Nyamache, Kisii County, tea farmer Teresa Moraa says the returns remain inadequate for households that depend heavily on tea.
“We rely mostly on our tea for income but we are unhappy. We are unable to pay school fees for our children. Our factory directors should raise the pay to at least Sh50 per kilo,” she said.
The concerns come as the government implements a series of measures intended to transform the tea sector and increase the share of earnings going to farmers.
Tea is among the priority value chains under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda, with the government seeking to increase export earnings while improving returns to growers.
The sector has faced persistent challenges, including low farm-gate prices, tea hawking, falsification of weights, governance concerns, declining quality, high production costs and fluctuations in international tea prices.
Other challenges include declining prices at the Mombasa auction, limited value addition and product diversification, dependence on a small number of export markets and inadequate transparency in price recovery mechanisms.
Government targets Sh100 per kilo
The Tea Board of Kenya says reforms are focused on increasing production, improving and stabilising farmer incomes, expanding market access, creating jobs, strengthening value addition and increasing the tea industry’s contribution to the economy.
Measures include subsidised fertiliser for smallholder farmers, factory modernisation, lower packaging costs, market diversification and reforms aimed at increasing direct sales and improving the share of value retained by growers.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe told the Seventh African Tea Convention in Nairobi that the government wants to build a tea industry that is productive, transparent, climate-resilient, commercially competitive and more rewarding to farmers.
“Tea is the backbone of many rural economies in Kenya. Hundreds of thousands of households depend directly or indirectly on tea for their livelihoods,” Kagwe said.
He said stable and remunerative tea prices would enable families to educate their children, access healthcare, invest in farms and contribute to local economic development.
According to the Tea Board of Kenya, the average payment to tea farmers increased from Sh35 per kilo in 2021 to Sh64 in 2024 and Sh56 in 2025.
The government has set a target of at least Sh100 per kilo by next year, with officials linking the goal to improved quality, lower production costs, greater value addition, competitive selling channels and stronger farmer representation.
Tea production also increased from 537 million kilogrammes in 2021 to 598 million kilogrammes in 2024 before standing at 550 million kilogrammes in 2025, according to Tea Board figures.
Tea export earnings rose from Sh136.5 billion in 2021 to Sh181.6 billion in 2024 and Sh186.9 billion in 2025.
Fertiliser and factory support
The government says it has invested in production and factory improvements as part of the broader reforms.
A total of Sh850 million has been spent on machinery and equipment modernisation in 17 smallholder tea factories.
The grants have benefited counties including Kericho, Nyeri, Bomet, Nandi, Murang’a, Nakuru, Trans Nzoia, Nyamira, Tharaka Nithi and Kirinyaga.
Since 2022, more than 650,000 smallholder tea farmers have also received about 290,000 tonnes of subsidised fertiliser.
The government has further introduced tax measures intended to support value addition. These include the removal of value-added tax on teas purchased from factories for value addition under the Finance Act, 2023, and the zero-rating of packaging materials for tea value addition under the Finance Act, 2025.
The government has also provided a Sh100 million grant to Ketepa to establish a common-user facility for value addition.
Other reforms include the gazettement of the Tea (Registration and Licensing) Regulations, 2026 and Tea (Levy) Regulations, 2026, aimed at strengthening regulation of the industry.
Farmers raise governance concerns
Despite the reforms, farmers say governance remains a major concern.
Charles Otwori, chairman of Nyamira Professionals Association and a tea farmer, said growers remain dissatisfied with their earnings and have placed blame on both the Kenya Tea Development Agency and the government.
“Poor governance of the companies is the elephant in the room,” Otwori said.
KTDA manages 54 tea companies in which smallholder farmers are shareholders, with the companies purchasing green leaf from growers.
Otwori also questioned the composition and leadership of factory boards, saying some directors are more closely associated with politics than farming.
Industry players agree that increasing production alone will not be enough to improve farmers’ incomes.
Robert Koech, chairman of the East Africa Tea Trade Association, said the sector needs to move beyond simply producing and selling large volumes of tea.
“The value in tea is migrating into brands, into blends, into extracts and ready-to-drink formats, into traceability systems and sustainability credentials,” Koech said.
He argued that too little of this additional value currently remains in Africa or reaches smallholder farmers.
Thushara De Silva, who chaired the organising committee of the African Tea Convention, said much of Africa’s tea is exported in bulk before being blended, packaged, branded and marketed elsewhere.
He said African producers need to move further up the value chain by developing brands, differentiated products, packaging, distribution networks and stronger relationships with consumers.
Kenya remains one of the world’s leading tea-producing countries, particularly in CTC tea, which is valued internationally for its colour, brightness and strength.
The challenge now is whether the reforms can translate the industry’s production and export strength into higher and more sustainable earnings for the hundreds of thousands of farmers who grow the crop.
