President William Ruto has said that the government will allocate Sh1 billion for the construction of two value addition and branding centres for Kenyan tea.
Speaking when he launched Chai Gold in Kericho on Wednesday, Ruto directed the Kenya Tea Development Agency to set aside the funds for the construction of the value addition facilities in Kericho and Nairobi.
He said the two will serve the Western Rift and Eastern Rift tea growing regions respectively.
"We are now moving to the next level where we are adding value, creating jobs, creating wealth," Ruto said.
"The more we sell branded, processed tea, the bigger the earnings, the more the jobs we create and the more the enterprises we create."
The newly launched Chai Gold is the flagship tea brand of the KTDA for the international market.
Ruto expressed concern that by 2022, only a paltry 5 per cent of tea produced in Kenya annually was branded.
He, however, noted that with the government's emphasis on value addition, the situation has now improved to 9 per cent in less than two years.
"The ultimate aim is to increase the value addition of tea to 5 million kilogrammes annually," he said.
The President asked the KTDA management to upgrade their facilities, automate their processes and support other smaller factories to add value and brand the agency's teas.
"I want you to find ways of supporting our micro and small enterprises to take advantage of this common user facility so that we can expand the branding and value addition that is already going on."
He also called on KTDA to diversify to the orthodox brand of tea, which is currently being produced by only 13 factories.
Ruto added that his administration is keen on reducing the importation of food, which costs the country Sh500 billion annually.
He said this is despite the fact that most of the food items can be produced locally.
