Agency says farmers will lose benefits of economies of scale

Workers place dry tea leaves on a processing machine at Gitugi Tea Factory in Othaya. The Kenya Tea Development Agency has warned new rules by Agriculture ministry will erase gains made in tea export. [Kibata Kihu, Standard]

Small scale tea farmers are at risk of losing their traditional dominance of Africa tea exports if proposed government reforms sail through.

Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which runs 69 tea factories bringing together almost 700,000 small scale farmers, claims the reforms proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture might do more harm than good to the Sh100 billion-a-year sector.