Last year alone, Kenya produced some 294-million kilograms of tea leaves. As a result, they are demanding 12 shillings per kilogram. Failure to meet these demands will, they warn, result in a countrywide farmers' boycott starting July 2. The problems have further been compounded by the excessive taxation and levies, high input costs, lack of production credit, low returns, poor roads and lack of vehicles to transport the tea leaves to the factory. Patrick Katingima, a member of a farmers' co-operative union in Machakos, eastern Kenya, agrees.
Farmers face severe transport problems.
Sometimes they use ox-carts or wheelbarrows to transport the leaves to the factory. Tea growers are not the only farmers complaining about government's agricultural policy. The boycott has caused a rice shortage countrywide. Maize farmers complain they are being forced to sell their produce locally instead of selling it outside the country where, prices are more competitive. Kenya's agriculture minister, Musalia Mudavadi, has admitted the need for a review of the current agricultural policy, which, he says, has lost relevance with liberalisation of markets.