According to the Kenya Tea Development Agency’s chief executive officer, Lerionka Timpati, the payment is part of the Sh40.5 billion from the 2010/2011 annual proceeds. It surpasses last year’s earnings of Sh38.2 billion, thanks to depreciation of the shilling against the dollar and high demand for the country’s tea in world markets.
Despite challenges facing the tea industry, particularly the sharp increase in the cost of electricity, fuel and other key production inputs, KTDA-managed factories have posted impressive results.
Mr Charles Kimathi, KDTA head of corporate affairs, said in a press release that out of the Sh40.5 billion earned from the crop, Sh10 billion had already been paid out.
He added that the average rate of payment for the second payment had risen from Sh31.52 to Sh36.40 per kg of green leaf delivered. “The total pay per kilogramme of green leaf to farmers has risen to Sh48.40, up from Sh43.76, thus maintaining the position of Kenya’s small-scale tea farmers as the highest paid in the world,” he said. The good payment, he said, was also due to impressive stable tea prices, favourable exchange rates, efficient management of factory processes and effective cost management.
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