The Mountain Journal
More regulations will be introduced to govern the multi billion tea sector in the interest to protect the 800,000 growers from exploitation through the value chain.
In the regulations, all the actors through the tea value chain will be identified with the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK), issuing penalties to tame the ills done through the value chain that include, hawking of green leaf across the regions, theft of green leaf in the processing factories
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the regulations imposed more strict requirements for licensing new tea factories, including minimum green leaf availability thresholds, alignment with national processing capacity, and demonstration of financial and technical capacity by the applicant.
He spoke at Rukuriri tea factory in Embu, during the release of the Kenya Tea Industry Performance Report– 2025, at Rukuriri Tea Factory in Embu accompanied by tea factory directors led by the KTDA Chairman Enos Njeru.
The CS said in the new regulations, tea imports imports of tea from other countries will be controlled through employing stringent requirements for importers.
“ This will protect Kenya from being a dumping ground for the low quality tea in the domestic market,” he said.
The TBK, he added, has been empowered to enhance compliance and enforcement by suspending, revoking or varying registrations and licences in cases of non-compliance, while also enforcing reporting obligations and penalties.
He said tea levy will be introduced designed to provide a sustainable
financing mechanism to support promotion, research, development and competitiveness of the tea sector.
“For decades the Kenya tea industry has been disadvantaged in global competitiveness compared to countries such as Sri Lanka and China, largely due to insufficient marketing and limited investment in value addition,” he said.
In the year under review, Kenya tea was shipped to 100 export destinations compared to ninety-six in 2024. Pakistan bought 235.13 million kgs and ranked the leading export destination for Kenya tea in the year under review.
Njeru pleaded with the MPs and MCAs from tea growing areas in the formulations of the laws and regulations pertaining to the sector to consider the plight of the growers.
In the Tea Amendment Bill 2023, Njeru said some clauses that originated from the senate that included introduction of the Direct Settlement System (DSS) would ruin the farming as would sabotage the importation of fertilizers and sabotage the factory operations.
“ There is a need to allow the factories to be managed through the Company Act and allow the management of six directors to remain,” said Njeru, also a director at Rukuriri tea factory.
He added that the factories are required to produce quality tea, in a strategy to attract more buyers,
East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) Managing Director George Omuga said Kenya’s tea production declined from 598.5 million kgs in 2024 to 550 million kgs in 2025.
Others present included TBK CEO Willy Mutai, Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe, KTDA Holding Board member Mithamo wa Susan among others.
