Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua will meet the Kenya Tea Development Agency early next week in a push to increase tea earnings for small-scale farmers in response to the appreciating US Dollar against the Kenyan Shilling. 

Speaking on Saturday in Kigumo, Murang’a County, the Deputy President said that since KTDA sells tea in US Dollars, the farmers’ earnings should not be constant.

He was responding to concerns of Gatanga MP Edward Muriu, who said the income of tea farmers had dipped despite the high exchange rate of the dollar. Gachagua explained that the government is already seized on the matter to ensure the high exchange rate of the dollar must match the earnings of the farmer.

“I concur with Mr Muriu that if the exchange rate for the dollar is high, the same should reflect on farmers’ income because the crop trades in the USD. I will convene a meeting with KTDA and explore ways of improving the earnings. We cannot have a fixed rate of payment, the price should be paid at the existing exchange rate of the dollar on the respective day,” said Mr Gachagua.

The Deputy President also called out the Judiciary for stopping implementation of government-led reforms in the tea sub-sector, delaying determination of the legal dispute filed in court in 2020.

“I appeal to the Judiciary that tea reforms were so well crafted; the public was engaged. The courts suspended implementation of regulations aimed at reforming the subsector and delayed determination of the case for over three years now,” said the Deputy President.