Kisii tea: Sh2,500 fertiliser, 100,000 seedlings, Sh250m orthodox line asked
Key points
- Agriculture PS Dr Kipronoh Rono met Broadcasting and Telecommunications PS Stephen Isaboke and the Nyamache Tea Factory board on revitalising Kisii tea.
- He directed the Tea Board of Kenya to stop tea hawking in the region and cited a presidential nod for factories to sell direct to buyers.
- KTDA is procuring 2 million bags of fertiliser; Rono said tea farmers will pay Sh2,500 a bag, same as other farmers.
- Smallholders are due 100,000 seedlings; 14 factories in Kisii and Nyamira 100,000 each. The board asked for about Sh250 million to renovate and install an orthodox line.
Two million fertiliser bags, Sh2,500 a bag, and a Sh250 million orthodox-line request — that is the arithmetic Agriculture Principal Secretary Kipronoh Rono put on a Kisii tea table, KBC reported on 17 August 2026.
Rono sat with Broadcasting and Telecommunications PS Stephen Isaboke and the board of Nyamache Tea Factory on hawking, earnings and the value chain. He told the Tea Board of Kenya there should be no hawking of leaf in the Kisii region. He said the President’s go-ahead for factories to sell straight to buyers was meant to cut out older marketing layers. KTDA, the same report said, is buying 2 million bags of fertiliser for tea growers nationwide. “The fertiliser that tea farmers use will also be Ksh 2,500, just like the fertiliser for other farmers.” Other measures listed: phase out old bushes; give smallholders 100,000 seedlings; give each of 14 factories in Kisii and Nyamira another 100,000 seedlings. The Nyamache board asked the state to fund renovation and a new orthodox line at about Ksh 250 million. Isaboke said many Kisii households still live on tea: “we must find solutions for our farmers.” Talk also covered value addition, digital tools and direct marketing. A meeting minute is not a gazetted subsidy. The Sh2,500 price and the 2 million bags need a KTDA delivery calendar; the Sh250 million line needs a Treasury or factory-board paper, not only a KBC paragraph.
A seedling count is not a bought leaf
Fourteen factories times 100,000 seedlings is a logistics job. TBK should name the hawking checkpoints it will actually close this month.
Agriculture desk: Agriculture. Verified Sh2,500, 2 million bags, 14 factories, 100,000 seedlings and Sh250 million ask from KBC.
KTDA should publish collection points for the 2 million bags. Nyamache should put the orthodox-line bill of quantities on the factory noticeboard.
Growers should keep weighment slips; a direct-sale promise is only real when the bonus statement changes.
Readers should cross-check any deadline, fee, court date or programme claim against primary gazettes, agency circulars and court records before acting on this report.
Official gazettes, court rulings and agency circulars may update these facts after publication; readers should verify any deadline, fee or court date against primary sources before acting.
Based on KBC reporting of the Kisii meeting. The Sh250 million orthodox line was a board request, not a confirmed vote.
