In the meeting, they will approve factories’ annual accounts for the 2022–23 financial year.

“The directors will be meeting to discuss the performance of their respective factories’ for the year that ended in June,” KTDA Management Services MD Julius Onguso said.

“It is only after that they will announce the second payment rates for their specific factories,” he added.

The meetings come as preliminary data shows a marginal drop in green leaf production and sale prices at the tea auction in Mombasa.

In the year ending June 2023, green leaf deliveries to KTDA-managed factories dropped 8.5 percent to 1.15 billion kilos as tea farmers grappled with a prolonged drought that hit farm output.

The amount is a drop from the 1.253 billion kilos delivered by farmers in the same period last year.

Likewise, tea prices at the auction recorded a slight dip of 3 percent, with the average price for all KTDA-managed factories standing at $2.69 (year 2022-23) compared to $2.76 a year earlier.

“We have had the twin challenges of a severe drought and a very challenging global tea market due to lack of access to the US Dollar by key tea buying markets, but we are continuously working to make sure farmers get the best value for their hard work,” he said.

In January, KTDA disbursed a Sh5.5 billion payment for the December green leaf deliveries.

Under KTDA’s payment model, farmers are paid monthly with an extra mini-bonus followed by a full bonus attributed to factory performance.