{"id":3997,"date":"2024-02-22T14:03:27","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T14:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/02\/22\/govt-unveils-academy-for-tea-growing-farmers-at-kabianga-university\/"},"modified":"2024-02-22T14:03:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T14:03:27","slug":"govt-unveils-academy-for-tea-growing-farmers-at-kabianga-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/govt-unveils-academy-for-tea-growing-farmers-at-kabianga-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt unveils Academy for tea growing farmers at Kabianga University"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 \u2014 The government has launched Lipton Innovation and Technology Academy which is set to offer cutting-edge training to tea-growing farmers in efforts to enhance earnings.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Academy will be based at Kabianga University in Belgut constituency, Kericho county.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the launch of the academy, President William Ruto said the collaboration between Kenya and Lipton Teas and Infusions, <\/strong>a Rotterdam-based American-British firm that produces tea and herbal drinks, seeks to improve the quality of Kenya\u2019s tea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time to use scientific empirical evidence to tell farmers which kind of tea will give them the best prices,\u201d Ruto, who spoke at State House, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a very long time we concentrated on quantity and this led to too much supply which resulted in low prices, it is time to focus on quality,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He noted that the agricultural sector has the highest employment rate with two-thirds of Kenyans gaining income from it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Agro industry provides 40 per cent manufacturing jobs and contributes 48 per cent of Kenya\u2019s GDP,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Innovating for market dynamics <\/h2>\n

The CEO of Lipton Teas and Infusions, Nathalie Roos, noted the importance of innovation in the face of market changes in the tea sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the face of climate change, global market trends and change in consumer tastes, our ability to innovate will determine our future success,\u201d she said..<\/p>\n

Roos emphasized the need for essential training to prepare the next generation of farmers, innovators, researchers, and leaders to meet whatever challenges they may face in tea production and processing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ambition is to develop the strength we share, tea which is our natural resource, and people to invent and deploy new methods to deal with market trends,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Representing Members of Parliament in tea growing areas, Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe said that farmers require training to enable them to reap their benefits.<\/p>\n

He noted twenty-five per cent of farmers practicing small-scale tea production still engaged in traditional methods, further limiting their output.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a need for tailor-made training to improve the quality of our tea and create resilient varieties,\u201d he elaborated. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Academy will use inventions, literary and artistic works produced by Lipton Teas and Infusions to develop knowledge for tea farmers and traders.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 \u2014 The government has launched Lipton Innovation and Technology Academy which is set to offer cutting-edge training to tea-growing farmers in efforts to enhance earnings. The Academy will be based at Kabianga University in Belgut constituency, Kericho county. Speaking during the launch of the academy, President William Ruto said the collaboration […]<\/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-3997","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\/3997","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=3997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}