The government will set up two tea packaging factories to facilitate value addition and improve farmers' earnings, according to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.
Kagwe, who spoke Gacharage Tea Factory in Murang'a County during the International Tea Day celebrations, said the factories will also reduce reliance on foreign packaging services, thereby cutting down on the cost of production.
The minister noted that Kenya has been relying heavily on packaging services from China and the United Arab Emirates, and reiterated the government's commitment to supporting the tea sector and improving the livelihoods of farmers.
Kagwe said the new factories would serve as Common User Facilities (CUFs), allowing farmers and processors to package their tea locally, at minimal costs.
“You don't have to invest, the government is going to invest in the packaging plans. The factories will be called the common users' facilities,” Kagwe said.
The move is part of broader reforms in the 2025/2026 Finance Bill, which includes removing excise duty on tea packaging materials and eliminating VAT on value-added tea exports. These measures are designed to lower production costs and increase farmers' incomes through value addition.
“We spoke about packaging materials, and again, this is something that is in parliament. We have removed duty on packaging material, so from now henceforth, those who have been responsible for tea packaging in the DMCC in Dubai, it is cheaper for you to pack tea in Kenya than to pack tea outside Kenya,” Kagwe noted.
Additionally, Kagwe said that the government will invest in common user facilities so that when farmers take their tea there, it is packaged for them at a very small fee that will be set by the government
“If you have bulk tea but you don't have factories to pack, it doesn't matter, as the government will invest in common user facilities so that you can take your tea there and it is packaged for you at a very small fee. We will save a lot of costs through this investment,” said Kagwe.
Kagwe also said the government is working on making subsidised fertilisers available on time to avoid delays.
“We want to make sure that the farmers benefit completely from these fertilisers' intake,” he said.
This came after President William Ruto met with China’s top tea producers, including Fuzhou Benny Tea Industry, when he sought to strengthen trade ties with China. The goal is to expand the export of other important Kenyan products such as coffee, avocados, and macadamia nuts to the Asian giant.
