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Tea factories now resort to wood fuel

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Published on Thursday, 26 January 2012 19:06

OGEMBO tea factory in Gucha hasacquired a 235 acre land in Trans Mara West district to develop a woodlot andsustain firewood supply in a bid to reduce production costs. Board chairman Timothy Nyarangosaid they were joining other factories in acquiring land in the neighbouringdistrict to cushion farmers from high production costs. Most factories in Kisii and Nyamiracounties have resorted to wood fuel and have acquired huge junks of land inTrans Mara West districts to develop wood farms.

Speaking during the factory’s annualgeneral meeting, Nyarang’o said the company was in the process of beingRainforest Alliance Certified in a bid to protect the environment in line with internationalmarket demands. Other changes include modernisation ofprocessing machinery to enhance processing capacity and reduce cost, added thechairman. Nyarango said production costs havecontinued to rise. Last year he said the costs increased by Sh10 with Sh122.72spent to produce a kilo of made tea. “Electricity, fuel and labour costsremain high that’s why we are venturing into wood fuel,”  said Nyarang’o.