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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 27764, member: 2262"] Chege Kirundi stepped up as KTDA National Chairman with fresh ideas for smaller tea farmers across Kenya. Last weekend, he met with over 160 directors from regions west of the Rift Valley during a Nakuru gathering. He shared his vision for changing how the tea business works by focusing on what farmers need most. His approach centers around making farmers the priority instead of treating them as just suppliers. Kirundi believes farmers should make more money from their tea-growing efforts. The market has changed dramatically since KTDA first started in 1964 as a government body before becoming private around 2000. The old ways just don't work anymore for today's farmers facing modern challenges. KTDA must change fast to keep up with these new realities. The board has already started creating better policies that will help farmers earn what they deserve. Every business choice must consider whether it helps sustain the industry for years ahead. Kirundi explained that strong leadership and talking regularly with everyone involved can fix many problems tea farmers face. He pointed out that many issues come from bad rules that harm small factories. He mentioned how the reserve price rule unfairly targets only KTDA-managed factories instead of all tea producers. This created huge piles of unsold tea, especially for factories on the western side of the Rift Valley. Kirundi assured everyone his team had already started working with factory leaders to solve this backup problem. They have plans to address these challenges together. The directors raised concerns about people selling green tea leaves outside official channels throughout western areas. This hurts quality standards across the entire region. They want the Tea Board of Kenya to force all private factories to follow the same rules as everyone else. Factories breaking these standards should risk losing their right to operate. Kirundi asked all directors to focus on keeping tea quality high at their facilities. Making excellent tea falls completely under their control through careful oversight. Many directors appreciated how Kirundi actually listened to their concerns about local problems. He promised to keep communication open with farmers and their representatives through regular honest discussions about fixing the tea industry. [/QUOTE]

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