Why The New Tea Sector Reforms Are A Divine Game Changer

At independence in 1963, the occupant at Government House— that is the present day Statehouse, changed from a Caucasian to an African. And with much pomp and applause, the expectant locals celebrated the transition and said bye to colonial humiliation—now well documented by historians. But to many sectors, Independence meant little.

The tea sector underwent mild reforms because those who had introduced the crop clung on to practices that favoured them since they controlled the market both from a know-how and a "do-how" perspective. India had no challenge like Kenya's as it consumes all locally grown teas. Kenya exports everything but 5% that's consumed locally. We are heavily exposed to the sitting duck risk if the reins of marketing our teas are left firmly in the hands of foreigners or their surrogates.

Kenya's is a perfect case of controlled abuse over the years. A few entities have decided who, why, when and how tea is sold. But freedom at last! Tea buying moves from afar to the factory. Tea was once sold in London after enduring many months at sea, then at the Mombasa auction and now at the growers doorstep. This has many advantages.

First for the buyer is the freedom of choice and price determination void of biases. Let the buyers pick what works for them and not the product of underselling teas with the rule "blood is thicker than water most times".

Second, the world out there has enough consumers with a palate for teas from all places. For far too long, the volcanic soil theory became a mantra such that the further away the tea was grown from volcanic soils, the less tastier it was. It may have some scientific truth in it but certainly not enough to discourage other palates from appreciating teas grown in the west. It is akin to insisting that the best football is played in England because they invented the game, but in truth the world has taken better football to England through foreign and naturalised players of foreign descent. It is time for the world to make its verdict independently on which teas are best for them as they buy directly from the factories.

Third, unsold teas will now stay in warehouses at the factories, meaning that only sold teas leave for the market and not to expensive warehouses in Mombasa for weeks or months on end at the expense of our modest growers. This is a huge saving for growers and will soon be augmented by the SGR extension through parts of the tea belt in the west, for rail transport is always cheaper than trucking.

The tea growers have been handed a new lease of life, and to whom much is given, much is expected. If the farmers don't live up to the changes, they will end up far worse than they are now. They have no choice but to change.

First, they must now all open dollar accounts at their respective banks. Tea payments from buyers come in dollars and then someone in between trades with it whilst converting them to shillings. The farmer must never lose out to a middleman. Some financial literacy is mandatory for growers. The extra coins saved from having dollar accounts will cushion growers incomes from the high cost of paying pluckers.

Second, finding or developing homegrown tea sellers is a must-have and no longer a nice-to-have thing, lest the factories depend on those with little or no interest in growers gains. Tea tasting skills must now be linked to tea pricing at factory level. No one is born a tea taster or seller, these are impartable skills.

Third, factory directors must be world class. The risk of signing off to bad buyers is higher where directors competencies are distant from what are desirable when dealing on behalf of thousands of families. Those specialising in cheap politicking must now understand that they must rise above buying centre gossip and stand tall at global level. It's high time the tea board issued guidelines on who is allowed to transact business on behalf of growers. They could begin with an aptitude test which if failed can only be retaken after two years.

There is a bigger risk that the new reforms may help to contain. Global trends indicate that the tea consumption graph has plateaued for a while now while that of coffee exhibits a steady growth. The opportunity to market our teas differently could change the graph's tangent in our favour as the new energy to market for ourselves goes live shortly.

Tea growers have been delivered from slave trade arrangements.

You are free! Go make the difference that you've always craved for.