{"id":147767,"date":"2026-07-23T16:02:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kagwe-defends-tea-levy-as-uptake-hits-93pc\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T16:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:02:52","slug":"kagwe-defends-tea-levy-as-uptake-hits-93pc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kagwe-defends-tea-levy-as-uptake-hits-93pc\/","title":{"rendered":"Kagwe defends tea levy as uptake hits 93pc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has dismissed claims that the Tea Levy is hurting Kenya\u2019s tea industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kagwe revealed that tea uptake has surged to 93pc, its highest level in years insisting that the levy is critical to financing research, global marketing and value addition that will secure the sector\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the handover of a Ksh 360 million Japanese-funded Sencha green tea processing factory at Kangaita Tea Factory, Kagwe said assertions that the levy has created a tea glut are false and contradicted by market performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cTea uptake has increased to 93 per cent compared to the levels witnessed three years ago. It is therefore not true that the Tea Levy has caused a glut,\u201d said Kagwe.<\/p>\n

He said the 0.08pc Tea Levy is not imposed on farmers but on tea buyers, and will provide the financial muscle needed to aggressively market Kenyan tea in new and emerging export destinations, fund research into improved tea varieties, strengthen climate resilience and promote value addition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere will the money to promote Kenyan tea in international markets come from if we refuse to support the Tea Levy? Let us be honest\u2014it is not the farmer paying this levy. It is the buyer,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Kagwe argued that Kenya cannot expect to remain the world\u2019s leading exporter of black tea with insufficient investment in market development and innovation, saying sustainable financing is essential if farmers are to earn more from their crop.<\/p>\n

He noted that ageing tea bushes have continued to reduce yields and quality in many tea-growing areas, making research into new, high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties more urgent than ever.<\/p>\n

To demonstrate the government\u2019s commitment to value addition, Kagwe officially handed over the KSh360 million JICA-donated<\/p>\n

The tea factory had remained idle since 2019 due to an ownership dispute until JICA stepped in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis factory now belongs to the farmers of Kangaita. That is the message I was given by President William Ruto himself. We could not allow such an important investment to remain dormant while farmers waited to benefit,\u201d Kagwe noted.<\/p>\n

The facility is the only factory in Africa producing authentic Japanese Sencha green tea, positioning Kenya to tap into premium global specialty tea markets where prices can reach up to $10 per kilogramme.<\/p>\n

Kagwe thanked the Japanese government for the investment, saying the project represents the future of Kenya\u2019s tea industry through technology transfer, premium processing and higher farmer incomes.<\/p>\n

He said value addition would not only increase export earnings but also create employment opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children of tea farmers must also benefit from this industry. Value addition creates industries, creates jobs and ensures the next generation sees agriculture as a profitable enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

He further announced that Japan will continue supporting technical training to enable Kenyan experts to master Sencha tea production and establish Kangaita as a continental centre of excellence in specialty tea manufacturing.<\/p>\n

He also called for stronger protection of Kenya\u2019s identity in international markets through Geographical Indications, saying some countries continue to package and sell Kenyan tea as their own.<\/p>\n

Kagwe reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to investing Tea Levy proceeds back into the sector through research, market promotion, innovation and farmer empowerment, saying the ultimate beneficiaries will be tea growers across the country.<\/p>\n

The post Kagwe defends tea levy as uptake hits 93pc<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has dismissed claims that the Tea Levy is hurting Kenya\u2019s tea industry. Kagwe revealed that tea uptake has surged to 93pc, its highest level in years insisting that the levy is critical to financing research, global marketing and value addition that will secure the sector\u2019s future. Speaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147767\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}