Kibisu Kabatesi’s article, published in this esteemed paper on Sunday, May 24, titled ‘Tea farmers’ servitude reprieve with new reform broom’, rightly launches by confirming the importance of the tea crop to the economy of Kenya. This invites an opportunity to explain how the smallholder tea industry model operates, with attendant benefits to farmers like him. In Kenya, the sugar industry in Western Kenya was previously managed by Booker Tate, a managing agent of repute. This is a governance move aimed at protecting the interests of the farmer in factory management. Considering escalating costs of production and falling tea prices at the global markets, should tea farmers be looking for better models of growing their crop?

Source: The Star June 07, 2020 05:03 UTC