Why tea farmers surrender bonus to middlemen

By NIKKO TANUI

Whenever Kenya Tea Devolvement Agency (KTDA) announces the release of the annual tea bonus amounting to billions of shillings, many believe all tea farmers smile all the way to the bank.

But the sad reality is that over the years, desperate small-scale tea farmers especially in Rift Valley have literally been surrendering the prospects of earning bonuses by selling their green leaf to tea hawkers who in turn earn the bonuses.

Farmers who hawk their produce miss out on KTDA’s second payment of Sh28 per kilogramme on the quantity supplied at the end of the year.

The hawkers disenfranchise farmers by exploiting their vulnerability.

Ms Sarah Tonui from Chemosot village in Bureti constituency owns two acres of tea. However, life is not rosy for her as she has goitre while her husband suffered a stroke and is diabetic.

“I couldn’t afford to educate my children and I don’t have anyone else to depend on that is why I can’t help it but sell part of my green leaf to hawkers in order to afford basic needs such as food for my family,” she says.

Mr David Mutai from Keongo village in Ainamoi constituency has an acre and a half of tea. And while tea hawkers walked away with fat cheques he earned a pitiful Sh3,000.

The old man has three children in school and says the pressure to raise school fees and pocket money forced him to surrender the prospects of earning a big bonus since he has to sell his crop to tea hawkers to make ends meet.

Ms Pauline Chepkwony, a single mother of six has an acre of tea. She points at a bushy piece of land where she used to plant maize until last year when a strange disease wiped out the crop.

“Much as I would like to wait for twelve months to get bonus, I can’t help it but occasionally sell part of my green leaf to tea hawkers in order to buy maize to grind flour. Besides that, sometimes I am overwhelmed by work at the farm and I have to hire a tea plucker and since I don’t have another source of livelihood, I sell part of the green leaf to pay a casual laborer,” She says.

Requirement

She laments that the drop in this year’s bonus dampened her spirit. The situation is complicated further by the fact that she had taken Sh30,000 loan from a Sacco to pay his son’s school fees at Kabianga University.       

“My wish this year was to build a permanent house but it seems that will remain just a dream,” she says.

Chepkwony lives in a mud walled house.

Back in Bureti, Mr John Langat says tea hawkers come in handy whenever his green leaf is rejected for failing to meet the strict two leaves and a bud requirement by KTDA tea factories.

“I don’t mind the fact that tea hawkers end up earning bonus from it since that would have been a bunch that would have gone to waste had tea hawkers not been around,” he says.

Apart from the strict KTDA rule, Langat who owns three acres of tea admits that he occasionally sells his crop to tea hawkers to get quick money for personal use.

Ms Ruth Rop from Chemosot village blames tea hawking on the time it takes for KTDA lorries to arrive at tea buying centres to pick the crop.

She says the situation is unbearable and pushes women to sell their crop to tea hawkers who pick it in time and at convenient locations for farmers.

“Sometimes one can arrive at a tea buying centre at around 3pm but the lorry can come past 9 pm. Therefore, when you combine that and the leaf count requirement by KTDA, most people would rather sell the crop to tea hawkers than be subjected to the hustle,” she says.

A tea hawker Mr Victor Kipngetich, argues that they are not ‘vultures’ out to exploit farmers but crucial players in the industry. “Though farmers lose on bonus, we nonetheless buy it at a higher price than KTDA and pay on the spot, thereby sorting farmers who have an emergency and urgently require some money,” he says.

Tea hawkers entice farmers by buying the green leaf for between Sh17-20 per kilogramme while KTDA pays them Sh14 for the same quantity every end month.

Further losses

The businessman who buys the crop from as far as Kisii and delivers it to a local multinational tea company in Kericho County says they also cushion farmers from further loss whenever their crop is rejected by KTDA for failing to meet the leaf count requirement.

He says contrary to popular belief that they pick tea regardless of quality, they only buy a bunch whose leaf count (bud and two leaves) is above 60 per cent.

“Sometimes what we deliver to the factory is rejected too and we count it as a loss on our part since we can’t take it back to the farmers and claim our money,” he says.

The chairman of Kenya Union of Small-scale Tea Owners, Joel ‘Maendeleo’ Chepkwony says though the tea hawking business is based on a willing seller and willing buyer basis, he argues that tea hawkers would not have  room to exploit tea farmers if KTDA offered competitive prices and picked the crop from buying centres in time. “KTDA always complains about tea hawkers but they would not have a chance to come in if the agency listens to the plight of the farmers and increase the tea buying price per kilo of tea and also the bonus payment,” he says.