Manufacturing / Production / FMCG
"Indigenous Kenyans gained right to cultivate tea post-independence."
For decades, indigenous Kenyans were legally prohibited from cultivating tea until independence, when the restriction was lifted, paving the way for their participation in the tea industry.
In 1960, the colonial government established the Special Crops Development Authority (SODA) under the Ministry of Agriculture to encourage tea cultivation among African farmers. Following independence, the Kenya Tea Development Authority was formally established in 1964 through Legal Notice No. 42, assuming the responsibilities and obligations of the SODA. Its mandate was to promote and sustain tea farming in smallholder operations, which were previously deemed unfeasible due to the technical and financial demands typical of large-scale plantations.
Since then, Kenya’s smallholder tea sector has established itself as a significant player in the global tea market.
Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited was incorporated on 15 June 2000 as a private company under the Companies Act (Cap 486) of Kenya, becoming one of the country’s largest private tea management organizations. Today, the Agency oversees 67 tea-processing factories within Kenya’s smallholder tea sub-sector.
