[Kibata Kihu, Standard]Smallholder tea farmers need to constantly innovate to remain relevant in a competitive market. According to Dr Dongyu, smallholder farmers need to increase the value of their tea products through standards, specialty teas, product innovation and generic promotion. In Kenya, the smallholder tea producers account for 56 per cent of the national production. It supports at least 620,000 smallholder farmers across the country with over 6.5 million Kenyans directly or indirectly benefitting. Researchers have recently warned that low producer prices may force smallholders to abandon tea production for other lucrative enterprises.

Source: Standard Digital June 04, 2022 13:19 UTC