NAIROBI, Kenya, July 5- Tea farmers allied to the Kenya Tea Development Authority(KTDA) have received a record payment of Sh62.89 in the year ending June, the highest ever payment disbursed in five years.
This is a 42 percent increase from the Sh 44.15 billion issued in the previous year.
The final bonus stood at Sh37.11 billion in addition to the monthly payments accumulating to Sh25.78 billion.
The increased earnings is partly attributed to higher earnings of the commodity which rose to an average of USD 2.76 per kilogramme from USD 2.18.
In the year under review, there was a 44.6 percent increase in total average earnings per kilogramme in addition to a 26.4 percent increase in tea auction price per kilogramme.
The Government in July introduced minimum price of USD 2.43 per kilogramme in order to cushion farmers who were reeling from high cost of production which reduced their earnings.
Kericho and Bomet farmers were the greatest beneficiaries earning Sh15.3 billion followed by Kiambu and Embu who earned Sh13.2 and Sh8.9 billion respectively.
