Supply Chain Factors Influencing Small Scale Farmers’ Tea Production in Abothuguchi West Division in Kenya

Low yields on the small scale tea farmers in Kenya led to this study. The purpose of this study was to establish the supply chain factors influencing small scale tea production in Abothuguchi West Division in Kenya. A survey of 70 small scale tea farmers of AWD was carried out with a target population of 5000 farmers registered to supply tea to the Kenya Tea Development Agency managed by Githongo Tea Factory. A questionnaire and interview guide was used to collect the data. A response rate of 80% was obtained. Based on research findings, the respondents cited poor state of road (60%) high cost of hired labour (93.3%) and low rate paid per kilogram of tea produced (93.3%) to farmers contributed to decline in the quantity of tea produced in Abothuguci West Division. The study concluded that transportation is the greatest factor which negatively influences the quantity of tea produced. It is rated to have 86.6% influence.