Senior Reporter
Annet Katusiime Mugisha, the Woman Member of Parliament for Bushenyi District, has attributed the declining prices of tea to farmers employing inadequate harvesting methods.
While addressing the residents of Kyamuhunga sub-county, Katusiime highlighted the numerous challenges faced by the tea sector. She pointed out that in Rwanda, a kilogram of tea is valued at 3.5 US dollars, in Kenya at 2.2 US dollars, while in Uganda, it is merely at 0.7 US dollars per kilogram.
Katusiime asserted that the primary cause of this discrepancy is the suboptimal harvesting techniques employed by Ugandan farmers. She emphasized that when Ugandan tea reaches international markets, it is often repackaged and rebranded in Kenya, erasing the presence of Ugandan tea on the global stage. Katusiime assured the community that the government is diligently working on implementing a tea policy to regulate the sector in Uganda.
The tea sector has recently experienced price fluctuations, dropping from 600 to 200 US dollars per kilogram. This volatility has had adverse effects on farmers in regions where tea cultivation is predominant.
