Agriculture CS Felix Koskei assures tea farmers over ailing sector

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei

UASIN GISHU COUNTY: Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei has assured tea farmers that the Government is in control of factors derailing development in the sector.

He guaranteed aggrieved farmers of elaborate long-term strategies to turn around their fortunes in the sub-sector.

Tea farmers in the region had raised concern over the decline in bonuses (second payment) every subsequent year.

Koskei affirmed that the ministry was looking into governance issues in the entire tea value chain to step up productivity in the sub-sector that has been hardly hit in recent times and revealed plans to introduce common user facilities.

"The various players can share the same facilities for blending and packaging high value tea for export at a fee," he offered.

Koskei made the remarks in Uasin Gishu County where he toured various agricultural projects, including the expansive Chepkosom irrigation project.

He said the ministry was almost establishing a stabilisation fund to cushion farmers from fluctuating international market prices.

Koskei raised concern that there were only 12 brokers and a dozen buyers at the Mombasa tea auction, making it look like a club and were thus working on introduction of electronic auction to liberalise the market.

"Above all, we are pushing for reforms in the entire tea value chain. The President issued a directive to KTDA (Kenya Tea Development Agency) management to step up value addition," he said.

Governor Jackson Mandago praised the ministry for performing above par in promotion of devolved functions while Moiben MP Silas Tiren lauded Koskei's endeavours in lowering the cost of production through decentralisation of facilities.

Koskei also defended the Government's move to pull out from a subsidy agreement to lower the price of maize seed at the Kenya Seed Company.

"The Government owns just 52 per cent of the company while the rest is by private owners, thus the firm must break even just like any other by operating optimally," he reiterated.