The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) has raised concerns on some provisions of the new Tea Act 2020.
This is even as KTDA acknowledged that the new law opened a new chapter for the development of the tea sub-sector and proved beneficial to the smallholder tea farmer.
“However, like most novelties, it contains provisions that offer conflicting indications, and whose impact will vary depending on the role played across the tea value chain,” cautioned Alfred Njagi, Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Management Services, Managing Director in a statement.
The Act aims to improve the management of the 69 tea factories owned by small-holder farmers in 21 counties. The factory units are run as autonomous companies but managed by the farmers-owned KTDA.
KTDA Management Services is one of the subsidiaries of KTDA which will be impacted by some of the provisions in the law. The Bill slashes the remuneration of management agent fees to 1.5 per cent of net sales value of tea sold per year from the current 2.5 per cent – meaning that managing agents will have to reconsider their existing arrangements with tea factories…
