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THE STANDARD By
Wainaina Ndung u |
March 4th 2021 at 00:00:00 GMT +0300
Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Hon. Peter Munya speaking during official launch of Bt. Cotton Seed and pesticide to 23 Counties suitable for Cotton production. [Wilberforce Okwiri]
The New Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (New KPCU) has reported double earnings for farmers in co-operatives milling with in its factories in the Mt Kenya region.
Meanwhile, Agriculture CS Peter Munya has appointed Timothy Mirugi as the Acting Managing Director of the union taking over from Angeline Ndambuki who has been at the helm since July last year.
Ndambuki in turn replaced Joel Imitira who was initially picked by the CS to head the co-operative mills but stepped down due to a pending corruption case related to his tenure at the Meru County Investment and Development Corporation.
By Dan Bolton
In early December, Kenya s National Assembly passed the Tea Act of 2020, advancing sweeping reforms in the tea sector. The decision reestablishes the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) and the Tea Research Foundation (TRF), two institutions dissolved in 2014 in favor of an Agriculture Fisheries and Foods Authority that managed eight sectors including coffee, tea, coconut, cotton, sisal, sugar, and pyrethrum.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, at the direction of President Uhuru Kenyatta, has for months pressed for a slate of reforms returning sector control in both tea and coffee.
The Tea Act, which was approved on Dec. 1, and the Coffee Act both institute direct settlement schemes (DSS) that require payment to farmers directly after the sale of their tea and coffee. Tea brokers, buyers, and the tea auction in Mombasa must remit sales within 14 days, and tea factories are required to pay 50% of sales direct to farmers. Tea farmers also earn an end-of-harvest-year bonus