Kigezi tea green-leaf prices jump from Shs 250 to Shs 450 a kilo
Kayonza Growers Tea Factory says the Mombasa auction is firmer and that about 95 percent of abandoned gardens have been brought back into picking.
Green-leaf tea in Kigezi is fetching about Shs 450 a kilo, up from Shs 250, according to factory managers. The jump has been felt most in Kanungu, where Kayonza Growers Tea Factory says it buys from a catchment of roughly 15,000 farmers. General manager Naboth Amutuheire linked the better farm-gate price to a firmer Mombasa auction. He also said about 95 percent of gardens that had been left to bush have been rehabilitated — a figure that, if it holds, would be one of the quieter agricultural recoveries in the region. Tea does not make the same noise as tourism, but it pays school fees in the hills above the lakes. Pickers told Joy FM the new rate is welcome; they also want it to last beyond one good auction month. _Based on factory briefings reported nationally, 10 August 2026._