Directors of the Kenya Tea Development Authority ( KTDA) have assured tea farmers that the agency is making efforts to address falling tea prices. The directors appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and sought to clarify concerns that the agency has been sleeping on the job as farmers in tea-growing areas suffer economic losses due to the slump in prices. The national chairman of the KTDA board, Peter Kanyago, and KTDA (Holdings) Chief Executive Officer Lerionka Tiampati (pictured) told the committee that the agency was involved in multiple initiatives to address the current crisis in the sector. "It is true that tea prices have been falling. As KTDA, we are doing the best to ensure that Kenya's tea is competitive in the international market," said Mr Kanyago. ECONOMIC MELTDOWN Mr Tiampati explained that one of the contributing factors to the current crisis is the economic meltdown affecting some of the traditional Kenyan tea markets abroad. "Egypt, which is one of our chief export markets, has been hit by political upheavals, leading to a reduction in their income from key sectors such as tourism. This has negatively affected our tea prices," he said. He however revealed Kenya was aggressively seeking new markets in countries such as China. Kanyago blamed taxes charged on tea farmers in the country for the falling competitiveness of Kenyan tea in the international market. He called for a review of the levies and said the agency was engaged in talks with the Government on funding research on tea varieties. Others who appeared before the House committee were directors from the country's seven tea-growing regions. The Agriculture committees of both Houses have stepped up efforts to address the issue of falling tea prices, with the Senate committee organising a conference that will bring together all key stakeholders in the tea sector to address the farmers' concerns. Source: standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000136189/ktda-in-bid-to-improve-tea-sales