Cabinet Secretary of Agriculture (CS) Peter Munya says he is leading reforms in various sectors to ensure that farmers achieve good returns on their investment.

The SC said it was focusing on increasing the prices of commodities, including milk, sugarcane, coffee and tea, so that farmers could benefit from their efforts.

He said that tea reforms, for example, are outlined in the Tea Act 2020 which provides, among other things, for the establishment of the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK), the Tea Research Foundation (TRF), the regulatory framework for the sector as well as the appointment of tea inspectors.

Munya lamented that global tea prices have been falling since last year, prompting him to set a reserve price of $ 1.88 per tonne in July this year.

He was speaking to tea producers at the Mudete tea factory in Sabatia sub-county on Saturday.

The former governor of Meru added that apart from tea, his ministry has set minimum prices for sugarcane at Sh4,000 per tonne while milk is to be supplied to processors at Sh37 per liter.

He said the interventions were aimed at protecting farmers from unscrupulous middlemen who in the past offered them low prices.

“We are primarily an agricultural economy and therefore the need to carry out reforms that can make the sector dynamic and viable,” he said.

By Sammy Mwibanda

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