Farmers demand action over drop in tea prices

The Uganda Tea Association (UTA), in collaboration with the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA), has called on the government to take urgent action and resolve the severe crisis threatening the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and workers in the country’s tea sub-sector.
For a long period, the tea sub-sector, which is one of the country’s strategic cash crops, has been facing an unprecedented crisis due to the continuous decline in tea prices.

The UTA Chairman, Mr Gregory Mugabe, said the government should take quick action to address the challenges facing the tea sub-sector and find a lasting solution to the crisis.
“A kilogramme of tea has dropped from $1.5 (about Shs5,600) to $0.66 (about Shs2,400), which is a significant decline. This has affected the livelihoods of our farmers and workers, and we need urgent intervention to address this crisis,” Mr Mugabe made the remarks during a multi-stakeholders meeting held in Kampala. 

The meeting brought together a diverse group of stakeholders in the sub-sector including government, tea industry players, and Members of Parliament, to explore solutions to resolve the crisis.
He said the tea sub-sector currently requires at least Shs126.2b to solve the current situation.

“We have been facing this crisis for the last 12 years, and we need the government to take quick action to address it,” Mr Mugabe said.
He said if nothing is done, about 100,000 jobs will be lost because some factories have shut down, while others are on the verge of closing.
The State Minister for Agriculture, Mr Bwino Kyakulaga, while addressing the stakeholder’s meeting, acknowledged the declining prices.
“The Cabinet decided to intervene in the crisis and it has several issues it’s trying to determine including budgetary ones, among others,”Mr Bwino said.

He added that the farmers have also asked for a cash bailout to unblock the tea trader and address the immediate challenges.
“We are committed to uplifting the production of tea in Uganda, and we believe that by working together, we can find a way out of this crisis,” he said. 

Impact
According to the East African Tea Traders Association, global tea production stood at 6.604 billion kilogrammes in 2023, an increase of 1.88 percent from 2022. However, global consumption declined by 0.34 percent, affecting the global tea price. Uganda, along with other East African countries, experienced a decline in tea production, with Uganda’s production dropping by 7 percent in 2023 compared to 2022.