Out growers have decried exploitation by middlemen for the green tea leaf they supply to Mpanga Growers Tea Factory. This came up during the 2021 shareholder’s Annual General Meeting held at the factory premises in Kabarole District Saturday.
The outgrowers explained that since the factory does not buy green leaves from them directly, the middlemen who buy from their gardens and later sell to the factory pay them little money compared to what other tea factories pay their out growers.
The farmers say that middlemen pay between Shillings 350-370 per kilogram of green leaf yet when they take it to the factory, they sell it at Shillings 500 per kilogram. Peter Tumwebaze, one of the outgrowers said that farmers who grow other crops earn more than them because they are getting little money from their green tea leaves.
He adds that the low prices have forced them to sell to other factories, which buy directly from farmers at a higher price. Winnie Kamakune, another tea farmer, says that they want the factory to buy tea directly from them to avoid exploitation by middlemen. Richman Mwesige, another outgrower says that the middlemen take advantage of the inability of the factory to reach them directly to pay them peanuts.
Methuselah Kasukaali, the Chairperson Board of Directors of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory, says that since the factory is back in normal production, farmers shouldn’t get worried as the factory will be buying their green leaves at a standard price.
Kasukaali adds that the poor quality of the green leaf produced by farmers also fetches a low price. He, however, says the factory will be providing fertilizers to the farmers to improve the quality of the tea they produce.
Saul Kusemererwa Balisima, the General Manager of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory, said that the leaf agents/middlemen have been a challenge to both the factory and tea farmers because they rush to buy green leaves from farmers at a cheaper price so that they can sell them to the factory at a higher price.
He, however, says that the factory will now buy directly from the farmers in order to fight the challenge. Mpanga growers tea factory has over 400 shareholders. They also grow green leaves, which they supply to the factory as out-growers.
Mpanga Growers Tea Factory is a public limited company owned by smallholder tea growers. It is one of the tea factories formerly under the Uganda Tea Growers Corporation. After privatization by the government, smallholder tea farmers bought shared in the tea factory with the assistance of the European Union.
-URN
