| dc.description.abstract | Growth in tea production in Kenya has slowed in recent years. This
slowdown is attributed partly to policy reforms in the industry, which
reduced government control on providing production, processing and
marketing services for smallholder farmers. A major concern in liberalizing
the industry is harmonizing the legal framework, adjusting the roles of
institutions previously involved in controlling and regulating the subsector to
mesh with the policy reforms. This paper outlines the reforms that have
been implemented in the smallholder tea industry, the legal framework of
operation and the impact of the policies on institutions and production. It
analyses the existing legal framework for the tea industry, the delivery of
services by the Kenya Tea Development Authority and the on-farm impact
of the policy reforms. The results of the analysis attribute the slowdown of
the industry to a poor regulatory framework that is not in harmony with
privatizing the industry; poor provision of production, processing and
marketing services to farmers by the tea authority; poor governance of tea
factories; and conflicts and dissatisfaction among farmers. | en |
