Nyamira County in Kenya signs tea value addition collaboration deal with China’s Songyang County

KENYA – The County Government of Nyamira has signed an agreement with the Songyang County, China, at increasing production and marketing prospects for the county’s tea.

The agreement, which was signed by Governor Amos Nyaribo and the Minister for Publicity from Songyang County, Mr Li Wei, will enable the two counties to collaborate in improving the quality of tea through enhanced processing and value addition.

Nyaribo said the partnership will lead up to the establishment of a value addition industry at the the upcoming Nyamira Integrated Agro-industrial Park whose completion is projected within the next one year to mainly add value to tea produced by Nyamira farmers.

“The Chinese are willing to partner with us in improving the quality of our tea and according to what we have agreed, the Chinese will help us set up a value addition industry for our tea and this will benefit farmers a great deal,” he said.

Nyamira county has six tea factories that cumulatively process 116 million kilogrammes of green tea annually.

Agriculture Executive Alice Manoti noted that the factories also produce an average of 29 million kilogrammes of processed tea but lack of a stable market has affected farmers earnings.

The Minister for Publicity from Songyang County Mr Li Wei said his government was ready to create an economically viable exchange programme that will benefit the two counties economically.

“Our counties are keen on capitalising on our capabilities in farming and industrialisation and the prospects will be beneficial for both farmers in Kenya and Songyang,” he explained.

Tea is Kenya’s third largest foreign exchange earning commodity. The government is keen in expanding the sector to even earn the more returns.

To boost the country’s tea production capacity, the Kakamega County Government has allocated Sh700 million (US$5.43m) to restart the construction of the Madala Tea Factory in Shinyalu Sub County.

The project is slated to start in second week of December. Groundbreaking of the factory was done in 2016 by the former Kakamega Governor, Wycliffe Oparanya. The project faced delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the election period.

The county government has already distributed tea seedlings to increase the number of farmers growing tea to support the factory once operational. The county cultivates 626.5 hectares of tea, producing 4,322.85 tons annually.

Kenya Tea Development Agency board member Abungana Khasiani noted the need to boost annual tea leaf production from 3 million to at least 5 million kilos to sustain factory operations.

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