NAIROBI: Tea farmers in Kenya are expecting higher bonus payments this year following record earnings by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) whose directors have authorized a second payout of 33.99 billion shillings. This is an 11 percent increase over last year's bonus. This year, total payout to farmers has risen by 12 percent to a record 45.31 billion shillings. The financial year 2011-2012 saw improved fortunes for the tea industry characterized by improved tea production, better tea prices and favorable foreign exchange rates. The shilling for example slid against the US dollar, hitting a high of 105, leading to a mean average of 89.16 to the dollar compared with 82 in the financial year 2010-11. This was supported by better tea prices that saw the average net sea selling price per kg increasing to 278 shillings, a 12 percent increase on the similar period last year. These factors led to record tea earnings by smallholder tea farmers under the Kenya Tea Development Agency hitting 61.4 billion shillings compared with 54.6 billion in 2011. Farmers in the Kericho-Bomet region will be the biggest beneficiaries, taking home 6.81 billion shillings, followed by those in Kiambu-Thika region who will take home 8.72 billion. However the situation is not the same for farmers in other markets who will receive much less, with KTDA offering the highest price.
