KTDA releases September pay and bonus to Kenyan tea farmers; Murang'a growers voice outrage

The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) released the September monthly payment and the annual bonus into smallholder farmers' bank accounts on Friday 9 October 2026, and farmers can access the money from Monday 12 October, The Star reported on 9 October.

KTDA chairman Enos Njeru announced the payment, as quoted by The Star: "KTDA has today, 9th October, released the September monthly payment together with the second payment (Bonus)." Farmers will be able to access the money from Monday during normal banking hours, the paper said.

Bonus rates differ by factory. President William Ruto said at the Agriculture and Food Summit on Friday that rates for the 2025/2026 financial year ran from KSh 12 per kilogramme at the lowest-paying factory to KSh 50 at the highest, according to The Star.

Ruto also said farmers receive an average of KSh 30 per kilogramme of green leaf each month, while the second payment varies widely with each factory's performance, The Star reported. He said the government has allocated KSh 850 million to support 17 KTDA-managed factories to improve their operational efficiency.

Farmers supplied 1.0947 billion kilogrammes of green leaf in the first 11 months of the 2025/2026 financial year, against 1.1444 billion kilogrammes in the same period of 2024/2025, according to The Star. The paper said several factories in the Mount Kenya region announced lower bonus rates than the previous year.

The Star reported that the industry also faced higher operating costs linked to shipping disruptions after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and a new 0.8 per cent export levy, which industry players cited as extra pressure on earnings.

In Murang'a County, farmers delivering to Kanyenyaini Tea Factory said they had received KSh 30 per kilogramme of delivered green leaf as this year's bonus, down from KSh 33.50 last year, despite earlier assurances that payments would improve, the Kenya News Agency reported on 9 October. In 2024 they received KSh 51 per kilogramme, the agency said.

The Kenya News Agency also reported that the highest declared tea bonus for the 2025/2026 financial year is KSh 50 per kilogramme, compared with KSh 62.80 per kilogramme the previous year.

Farmer Hezekiel Ndegwa told the agency: "We are at a crossroads, wondering whether to uproot this crop or continue growing it." Another farmer, Selina Muthoni Kamau, told the agency: "I am considering uprooting my tea bushes and rear cows if this does not change."