Tea farmers could see their earnings nearly double within two years under a sweeping government overhaul announced Wednesday, aimed at putting more money into growers' pockets.

The ambitious plan, unveiled by Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe before the National Assembly, promises to raise average green leaf payments to KES 100 per kilogram by 2027. This addresses deep-seated frustrations over dwindling incomes, which saw average farmer payments drop to KES 56 per kilogram in the 2024/25 financial year.

"Our goal is to ensure every tea farmer earns a dignified, predictable income," Kagwe told legislators. "These reforms are not cosmetic; they are structural." The announcement follows a query from Nominated MP Dorothy Ikiara regarding the stark disparities in annual bonuses paid to farmers across the country.

Dismantling Market Barriers

At the heart of the proposed reforms is a multi-pronged strategy to stabilize prices and improve quality. A key measure involves a shift from the traditional annual bonus—or "second payment"—to a quarterly model, a move designed to ease cash flow problems for farming households. The legislative framework for this change is expected between October 2025 and June 2026.

The government also plans to establish a dedicated Tea Quality Laboratory in Mombasa to ensure objective valuations and enforce national green leaf quality standards. This aims to tackle the significant price differences between tea from regions West of the Rift Valley, which averaged KES 38 per kg, and those in the East, which earned an average of KES 69.

Further interventions include:

• A KES 3.7 billion (approx. $28.5 million) concessional loan facility for modernizing factories.
• Removing the auction reserve price to stimulate market demand.
• Intensifying efforts to curb greenleaf hawking and theft.
• Expanding into digital marketing platforms and pursuing new international markets.

The Weight of Inefficiency

The reforms come as farmers grapple with declining auction prices and rising production costs. Average auction prices for Kenyan tea fell to $2.41 per kilogram in the 2024/25 financial year, down from $2.54, partly due to forex shortages in key markets like Pakistan and Egypt. At the same time, the average cost of producing a kilogram of made tea rose to nearly KES 113, with factories West of the Rift facing even higher costs of KES 134 due to what the ministry termed "operational inefficiencies."

These disparities have fueled protests, particularly in regions like Gusii, where some factories paid bonuses as low as KES 10 per kilogram, compared to over KES 57 in parts of the Mt. Kenya region.

While the government's comprehensive plan has been laid out, its success will hinge on swift implementation. For hundreds of thousands of farming families, the promise of KES 100 per kilogram is not just a headline figure—it is the difference between poverty and prosperity. The true test will be whether these structural changes translate into shillings in their accounts by the next payment season.