Tea farming in Kenya is synonymous with intense labour and low wages. This has been exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic and the climate crisis which is continuing to put livelihoods at risk. In times of oversupply and market speculation, commodity prices can fall below the cost of production so that farmers can’t even break even.
The biggest challenge tea farmers such as Charles Mugendi Njagi from the Rukuriri Tea Factory face are the ‘low tea prices and frequent price fluctuation.’ Fairtrade-certified tea Factories in Kenya are supporting tea farmers to find additional ways to make a living, with support from Waitrose’s long-term buying and Premium payments on Fairtrade tea.
Fairtrade works with smallholder farmers to get a better deal and promote a sustainable, decent livelihood by ensuring farmers receive a living income.
The Fairtrade Premium that Waitrose pays is often invested in projects in many Tea Factories that support diversification. Peter Irungu Salim, a tea and dairy farmer from Gacharage, has diversified his income with dairy and poultry farming through the Fairtrade Premium, as has Charles Mugendi Njagi from Rukuriri who has been a tea farmer for ten years, and wholeheartedly agrees with diversification of income as a good way to spent the valuable Fairtrade Premium.
Dairy and poultry farming
Peter Irungu Salim explains that ‘Gacharage Tea Factory had taught us a lot about income diversification. It is important for tea farmers to diversify their income. Income from tea farming may go down due to lack of fertilizers or changing climate.’
Peter is a member of a self-help group, the group assembled in 2018 with the aim to diversify their income as tea farmers. The group learnt about milk value addition from a dairy farmer in Nyeri and decided to make yoghurt. However, when they started the project, they realized they did not have enough money to get the project started. They sought advice from their Fairtrade-certified Factory, Gacharage Tea Factory.
Gacharage Tea Factory taught their members that ‘keeping chicken or dairy cows to supplement income from tea helps in fighting poverty.’
‘It is important for tea farmers to diversify their income. Income from tea farming may go down due to lack of fertilisers or changing climate.’
Gacharage Tea Factory assisted Peter get a boiler, a milk coolant and yogurt packaging containers. He has also benefitted from a mini truck for the collection of milk.
‘This milk value addition project will benefit many farmers. By making and selling yogurt, we’ll be able to pay the farmers well for their milk.’
His aim is to buy the milk at favourable prices which will benefit the farmers. ‘We are currently doing market research plan of selling our yogurt to other regions within the country.’
Charles also owns dairy cows where he sells the milk produced in Rukuriri, providing him with extra income. To ensure that Charles receives the best price for his milk compared to other buyers he ‘supplies our milk to a collection centre supported by Fairtrade.
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