Transportation of Tea via SGR

Tea grown in the Mt Kenya region will be transported from Nairobi to Mombasa using the SGR (Strandard Gauge Railway).

Peter Munya, CS for Agriculture shared that due to the unreliability of the old railway the product must move in this way. It cannot simply move from Sagana in Kirinyaga to Mombasa.

“We are trying our best to kick out all the cartels which had infiltrated the tea sector in all forms. Eespecially transport from upcountry to the auction in Mombasa,” Munya shared at Ndima Tea Factory in Kirinyaga County.

Further, the tea would be first stored in the large disused Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU) godowns in Nairobi. After this, tea  is be loaded into the SGR and transported to the Mombasa Auction.

The factory serves farmers from both Mathira and Kirinyaga since it lies on the border of the two tea catchment areas. This is the origin of its name Ndima (Ndia and Mathira). Furthermore, the CS said due to the railway network incompatibility, the commodity from the region will continue to be transported to Nairobi by road.

“This will still be a cheaper option when compared to the old arrangement. Which had the commodity being transported from the respective factories by road to Mombasa,” Munya maintained.