NEWS- The Minister of ICT and National Guidance Hon Dr Chris Baryomunsi has revealed that Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to draft a National Tea policy by May 2024 as prices across the country drastically fall with many farmers in the Kigezi region now uprooting their tea plants.
Hon Baryomunsi told journalist at the Uganda Media Center that the move is part of efforts to address tea quality gaps which are plummeting Uganda’s processed tea price on the international market while on the domestic market, the price of a kilogram of green tea leaves dropped from Ugx 500 to Ugx 200 which is negligible.
Minister Baryomunsi also revealed that the government is going to introduce a fertiliser revolving fund that will be capitalized by government, along with tax waivers to struggling factories across the country.
This comes after a section of tea growers and processors from Kabarole District petitioned parliament over the low prices, and the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Anita Among urged them not to cut down their tea plants as government works to mitigate their challenges.
Tea farmers and professors have been asking the government to establish an authority over the Tea Industry which can ably regulate the growing, harvesting, processing and marketing of tea in Uganda just like other cash crop such as coffee which has Uganda Coffee Development Authority so that the quality of green tea leaves and its processing can improve.
The fall in price of green tea leaves has led to to farmers to start uprooting their tea plantations saying that there is no guaranteed future in tea industry. Other players in the tea industry who started tea Nursery beds to boost the growing of tea are crying foul after the government failed to pay for the seedlings they supplied under NAADs program since 2017 and have since dragged the government to court seeking a redress.
In Kanungu District, there are 5 Tea Growers Factories, however they are now reported to be producing below capacity due to shortage of green leaves after the farmers decided to uproot their crops due to dropped prices. The farmers also allege that they pay high prices to get fertilizers for their crops and the turn around output from their effort does not help them earn any profit.
Whereas President Museveni ordered for an installation of the 3rd Production line at Kayonza Growers Tea Factory to meet the expected high green tea harvest from farmers after more than 1 billion seedlings were planted, the supply of the green tea leaves continue to dwindle and this has left the factory located in Butogota Town Council in Kanungu District near closure.
A branch which had been opened in Mpungu Subcounty in 2022 to minimise the cost of transportation of green tea leaves remain idle because erratic electricity distribution.
Despite assurances from the government to address the tea farmers challenges, they are now threatening to storm to the streets to demand that their concerns are addressed.