Nandi Tea Farmers Reject Sh12.50 Bonus, Demand Higher Returns

Tea farmers in Nandi County have rejected a Sh12.50 per kilogramme bonus announced by Chebut/Kaptumo Tea Factory, saying the payment is too low to cover rising production costs.

The growers have given the government seven days to intervene and threatened to stop delivering green leaf to factories if their concerns are not addressed.

The farmers want the Ministry of Agriculture and the Tea Board of Kenya to investigate the bonus and factory operations. They are also calling for the removal of directors overseeing the factory.

The dispute has been further fuelled by allegations that 186 acres of factory land at Eroche in Tinderet Sub-County were sold without adequate consultation with farmers.

Speaking at the factory in Emgwen Sub-County, farmer Richard Rono said growers were disappointed after the bonus fell from Sh17.50 per kilogramme last year to Sh12.50 this year.

“The bonus we have received this year has nothing good to write home about,” Rono said, arguing that the payment did not reflect the cost of producing tea.

He said some farmers had obtained fertiliser on credit to maintain their farms and were now struggling to repay the loans because of declining returns.

The farmers are demanding a bonus of at least Sh28 per kilogramme, saying tea payments should reflect the labour and costs involved in maintaining their plantations.

Another farmer, Sammy Biwott, accused factory directors of proceeding with the alleged sale of the Eroche land despite objections from growers.

“We told them not to sell but they went ahead without our approval,” Biwott said, calling for an investigation into the transaction.

Biwott appealed to Head of Public Service Felix Koskei to intervene, arguing that the alleged land sale required scrutiny.

The farmers also want a comprehensive audit of the factory’s operations to establish how its affairs are being managed.

Peter Kipkemboi said growers needed greater transparency from the factory management and called for an audit to provide clarity on its financial and operational affairs.

The farmers warned that low returns could push more growers out of tea production, despite the crop having remained a major source of household income in the region.

The dispute comes as Kenya’s tea industry faces pressure from international market conditions and concerns over farmer earnings. The growers linked part of the decline in returns to disruptions in global markets arising from the Iran-Israel-US conflict.

At the same time, farmers have pointed to significantly higher bonus payments expected from some tea factories. They cited a top-paying factory that is projected to pay up to Sh50 per kilogramme, saying the disparity has intensified questions about how factory bonuses are determined.

The Nandi growers now want government agencies and tea sector authorities to address their concerns within the seven-day period they have given.

Failure to secure an intervention, they have warned, could lead to a boycott of green leaf deliveries, potentially disrupting operations at the affected factories and adding pressure to ongoing efforts to improve returns for smallholder tea farmers.