- Tea farmers supplying Weru Tea Factory face uncertainty over their upcoming bonus payments.
- Poor feeder roads are increasing transport costs and eating into growers’ earnings.
- Susan Ngugi Mwindu warns that handling and packaging problems are putting tea quality and returns at risk.
Tharaka Nithi Woman Representative Susan Mwindu has warned that tea farmers supplying Weru Tea Factory should expect disappointing bonus payouts.
Mwindu raised the alarm over the earnings of smallholder growers in the county. She blamed rising production costs and shrinking profit margins, and pointed to two main causes: bad roads and weak handling and packaging practices.
Feeder roads in Tharaka Nithi and nearby tea growing areas came first in her list of concerns. According to the legislator, their poor state has made it far costlier to move freshly picked green leaf to factories. Vehicles wear out faster on the rough routes, while journeys take longer than they should. As a result, money that could have reached farmers as bonuses is being swallowed up by transport bills.
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Handling and packaging came next. Mwindu argued that poor practices push up operating costs at the factory level and put tea quality at risk. In turn, weaker quality cuts into the net returns that factories can pass on to growers.
Together, she said, these pressures leave farmers with less to take home at the end of the season. Tea remains a key source of income for thousands of households in the region, so any dip in bonuses is likely to be felt widely.
By Benedict Aoya
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