By Tajeu Shadrack Nkapapa
President William Ruto has said that the government will allocate KSh1 billion to the construction of two value addition and branding centres for Kenyan tea.
He spoke during the launching of Chai Gold, the flagship tea brand of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) for the international market at Ketepa Grounds in Kericho County.
“We are now moving to the next level where we are adding value, creating jobs, creating wealth. The more we sell branded, processed tea, the bigger the earnings, the more the jobs we create and the more the enterprises we create,” said President Ruto.
The President urged KTDA to allocate an additional KSh1 billion for the establishment of value addition facilities in Kericho and Nairobi, to serve the Western Rift and Eastern Rift tea growing regions respectively.
He expressed his concern that only 5 per cent of Kenya’s annual tea production was branded by 2022.
However, due to the government’s focus on value addition, this figure has increased to 9 per cent in less than two years.
“The ultimate aim is to increase the value addition of tea to 5 million kilogrammes annually,” he said.
The head of state asked the KTDA management to upgrade their facilities, automate their processes and support other smaller factories to add value and brand the agency’s teas.
“I want you to find ways of supporting our micro and small enterprises to take advantage of this common user facility so that we can expand the branding and value addition that is already going on,” Dr. Ruto said.
He said following consultations with the Dutch conglomerate Unilever, owners of Lipton Teas, the global tea brand will now be sold with the tag “Origin of Kenya.”
“For years, Lipton Teas was marketed and sold globally as “English Breakfast Tea,” yet wholly produced in Kenya, thus denying the country recognition in of a crop it produces,” Ruto said.
“Lipton Tea has agreed to set up a factory to produce fertiliser specifically suitable for tea and support a tea research programme at Kabianga University,” he added.
In addition, he urged KTDA to diversify to the orthodox brand of tea, a variety that is currently manufactured by only 13 factories.
The President emphasized that the government has successfully distributed subsidized fertilizers worth KSh25 billion over the past two years, resulting in increased productivity across various food production sectors.
“Because of subsidised fertiliser, many farmers have taken up farming in a new wave,” he said.