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Running head: ATTACHMENT REPORT 1 Report on a Three Months

Field/Industrial Attachment Time of Attachment: From 8

Article · January 2017

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Running head: ATTACHMENT REPORT 1

Report on a Three Months Field/Industrial Attachment

Time of Attachment: From 8th September, 2016 to 30th November, 2016.

Name of Student: Ochieng’ .O. Tonny

Student Number: A22/2320/2014

Institution of Affiliation: University of Nairobi

Name of Supervisor: Evans Chimoita

Date: 16th January, 2017

ATTACHMENT 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover page…………………………………………………………………………………pg. 1

Table of Content…………………………………………………………………………...pg. 2

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………pg. 3

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..pg. 3

Main Sections

Gakoe Tea Estate Field Division………………….…………………………….....pg. 5

The Management Structure……………………………….…………….…………pg. 6

Core Business of the Attachment Site and Departments….………………………pg. 7

Strategic Plan……………………………………………………………………..pg. 8

Nursery Establishment…………………………………………………..……….pg. 9

Bringing tea to bearing…………………………..………………………………pg. 11

Weed Control……………………………………………………………………pg. 12

Pest and Disease Control………………………………………..……………….pg. 13

Soil Analysis and Testing………………………………………..………….……pg 16

Fertilizer and Foliar Application, tea plucking..…………………………………pg. 17

Tea Delivery to the Factory……………………………...……………………….pg. 18

Gakoe Tea Estate SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………....pg. 20

Summary of Skills Obtained from the Attachment…………………………..………….pg. 21

Recommendation……………….………………………………….…………………….pg. 22

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..pg. 23

References………………………………………………………………………………..pg. 24

Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………..pg. 25

Appendices……………………………………………………………………...………..pg. 26
ATTACHMENT 3

Abstract

I attended my field/industrial attachment at Gakoe Tea Estate as part of my degree

programme’s achievement. Going to the field away from the classes was not just important as
a necessity but also important towards exposing my personality and training me while
preparing me to the work expected in the outside world after college degree. This attachment
report aims at giving the feedback to my awesome school, The University of Nairobi, College
of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences. The report aims at addressing the importance of field
attachment to the life of a student according to my personal view, the structure and
organization of my place of attachment, my experience at the place of attachment, knowledge
and skills obtained at the site of attachment as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the site
of attachment. The report will also acknowledge the very important people that made my
industrial attachment and the submission of this report successful. Most importantly, the
report will address the SWOT analysis of the site for the attachment.

Introduction

Long before attending an industrial attachment I never knew how important it was to the life
of any serious student especially from the University of Nairobi until I faced it myself as a
university requirement. I used to take it as a waste of time especially when it coincides with
my holiday. Attending this one, however, was not just an academic eye opener in terms of
grades but also a great exposure to the outside world. First of all the opportunity given to
each student by the school to go out there and find places for attachment by themselves has a
great impact towards improving the confidence of students and creating a network with
others outside school. I was among those who were successful in finding a place for
attachment through the help of friends. I successfully secured a place in Gakoe Tea Estate in
Kiambu County, Gatundu North location. When going for my site of attachment, I had at
least three things in mind; to practically learn about tea from propagation to marketing,
nurture ethical and interpersonal skills for a successful career development and to meet new
friends.

To begin with, Gakoe Tea Estate is located in Kiambu County, Gatundu North Sub- County.
This is somewhere in the middle of Aberdare forest along the Thika-Mangu-Flyover Road.
The plantation has a very cold weather that promotes fern growth a sign of a suitable site for
the growth of tea. It lies at an altitude of about 2200m above sea level.
ATTACHMENT 4

The Tea Estate is under the direct ownership of Gicheha Farms and under the management of
Tropical Farm management and Brookside. Gakoe tea Estate was established in 1966.
Historically, this was a plot where the father of this nation, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta used to go
and enjoy himself while off duty. There are still evidences of such activities for instance, a
very old swimming pool. The plot is about 93.63hactares purposefully under tea propagation.
This plot has been sub-divided into 12 fields in different sizes as will be discussed later on in
this report. The farm is currently employing over 300 workers among which most of them
consist of tea pluckers. As earlier noted, this is a field majorly dealing with tea production.
However, after the production of the tea leaves, the leaves are transported to Mataara Tea
Factory for processing into finished products. In its structural organization, at the top most,
the farm is managed by both the Tropical Farm Management and Brookside with each side
having its representative directors namely Mr Kimutai and Mburu respectively.

The next in position is the farm manager of which during my time there were two managers
namely Mr Makokha and Mr Ng’weno. From the managerial position, there are other staffs
who include; one senior/grade one supervisor (during my time, Christine), four other
supervisors (in my time John, Simon, William and Calvins). These four supervisors have
been assigned to each a number of fields for supervision purposes. The senior supervisor
oversees the supervision of the four and other areas of the farm that may require her attention.
ATTACHMENT 5

In fact, the senior supervisor is the ‘’second in command’’ in the managerial organization.
Other staff members include two clerks, a junior and senior clerk (Miriam and Kamau
respectively during my time). The junior clerk mostly deals with the farm’s record keeping
and other simple accounting calculations. The senior clerk on the other side deals with more
complex accounting stuffs like follow up of workers’ salary each month. Below in the
structure are the security guys as well as the hygiene keepers and finally the pluckers
themselves who constitute the majority.

The farm has an open system of office where the staff, including the manager, shares the
same open room. However, in many cases, it is only the clerks that can be found in this office
as the rest of the staff normally often goes around in the farms for supervisory work.

Gakoe Tea Estate Field Division

The tea estate is sub-divided into 12 main fields with each entailing different tea clones but
not specifically one clone per field. The fields are randomly arranged depending on the year it
was established. Raini field is approximately 2.8 hectares, field 1-6.64, F2-6.67, F3-8.55, F4-
9.53, F5-10.84Ha, F6-12.73Ha, F7-8.6Ha, F8-6.9Ha, F10-5.59Ha and F11-9.15 giving a total
of 93.63Hectares.

Gakoe Tea Estate exposes an individual to the cultures of the different communities in Kenya
as it has employed more than 300 workers from different parts of this nation, speaking
different languages but united by Swahili and sometimes English.

One thing I have to say about the administration of Gakoe Tea Estate is that it was very
supportive and ready to give in important information. From day one of my attachment I felt
at home inasmuch as I was many miles away from home. The manager, Mr Makokha could
offer me extra support including advisory support. The senior supervisor and other staff
members were amazing. The majority of the normal workers also gave me a very humble
opportunity to learn not only the academic part of tea but also the social way of life.
ATTACHMENT 6

The Management Structure

Board of Directors

The Manager

Senior Supervisor

Field Supervisor 1 Field Supervisor 2 Field Supervisor 3 Weeding supervisor

Clerk 1 Clerk 2

Security and Other Workers including pluckers

ATTACHMENT 7

The Core Business of the Attachment Site

The core business of Gakoe Tea Estate is to produce high quality tea regardless of the
quantity even though quantity is an objective for any agricultural related organization.

Gakoe Tea Estate majorly deals on tea agronomy from its propagation to its harvesting. The
estate also deals on research in conjunction with other tea research institutes like the Kenya
Tea Research Institute and Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. The main activity is plucking
of tea as that is the most effective profit-making path for the estate. Other activities include
receiving foreign guests who want to view, study or take photos on tea ( although in a very
strict way). They also absorb both diploma and degree students for capacity building. The
estate also offers free day care for the workers’ children below the age of seven. At the day
care, the children are given high quality teaching and a good foundation for their education.
Gakoe tea Estate offers both extension services and seedlings to the surrounding
communities.

Various Departments in Gakoe Tea Estate

i. Tea Nursery Department- Its core role is to ensure that tea seedlings are available
for filling in on fields that require replacement. The department also ensures all round
year availability of tea seedlings for sale to the local farmers. During my attachment
time, the department was headed by a young man and very humble called Shaban.
ii. Pruning and Tipping Department- This department masterminds two important
activities that bring tea into bearing. It is almost the backbone of tea agronomy.
Having our focus on the foliage part of tea as the profitable part, the department
ensures that all fields produce as much tea leaves as possible. Pruning is done after
every four years which is then followed by first tipping six months later. There are
pruning and tipping experts in this department because poor pruning technique is the
primary cause of most diseases in tea. The department was at that time headed by
Simon Mwangi, one of the most experienced in the estate.
iii. Pest and Disease Management Department-This is another crucial department in
tea agronomy. Tea cannot perform well when infested by pests and diseases. This
department aims at ensuring that necessary measures are put in place to prevent the
occurrence of pests and disease. In case of an infestation, the department ensures that
the disease does not spread to other tea bushes. This includes uprooting of the already
ATTACHMENT 8

infested bushes, application of appropriate chemicals on wounds after pruning and

timely weeding among others. The department was headed by William Kuria.
iv. Fertilizer and Foliar Department- In order to achieve the highest economic yield in
tea, one focuses on the tea foliage as it’s the leaves that have economic value in tea.
This requires that nitrogen based fertilizers and other foliar are applied with time. This
department ensures that the two are applied in time, at the concentration and with the
right individuals. The department strictly monitors its activities to avoid theft of these
chemicals.
v. Plucking and Weighing Department-The plucking and weighing of tea is done by
this department. It ensures that the tea is plucked at a maintained table height at all
seasons. It also ensures that only quality leaves (two leaves and a bud) are plucked.
After plucking, weighing must be done at the weighing shade and receipts given to
the respective pluckers reflecting the quantity of tea plucked for the day.
vi. Record Keeping Department-The tea estate has two clerks, one senior and one
junior clerk. The two clerks ensure recording of any activity taking place within the
estate. The department also ensures that records on all workers are well recorded and
safely kept. Other data that must be recorded by this department is the production data
per day, ecological condition per day, workers pay per day, details of newly employed
workers among other information. The department is headed by Mr Laurence Kamau,
assisted by Mrs Mirriam Nzisa.
vii. Tea Delivery and Processing Department-The estate does not have a factory of its
own. This therefore means that the tea must be delivered to the tea factory situated a
few miles from the estate. The estate has employed one driver and one assistant to
ensure that the tea gets to the factory immediately after its weighing at the weighing
shade. On getting to the factory, the processing department at the factory takes over
from there. This department always ensures that the tea is well packed in the tea
carriers to reduce fermentation before the tea reaches the factory.
viii. Security Department- The estate has a police station within its boundaries to ensure
all time security from outside intruders. The department also has watchmen that are
responsible in monitoring the security and safety of different tools, equipment and
structures of the estate including the estate’s water pump.

Strategic Plans
ATTACHMENT 9

The field attachment took fifty seven intense days. On my arrival, my manager, Mr Makokha
and I had a sitting where we drew a plan on how I was going to handle the days that I would
spend in the tea Estate. He also helped me come up with assistants that would take me
through every step of my stay. From the plan, we agreed that I would have to handle each
section of tea from its agronomy to final dispersal to the market. This was to be in the order
of;

a) Nursery Establishment
b) Bringing tea to bearing
a. Pruning
b. Tipping
c. Pegging
c) Pest and Disease Management in tea.
d) Weed Control in tea.
e) Soil Sampling
f) Fertilizer application
g) Plucking of tea
h) Tea Delivery and Processing
i) Office Record Keeping
j) Labour Management
The exact plan was covered during my stay until the final day. Through the process, I
had a lot to learn from tea propagation to tea processing, packaging and exportation.

Nursery Establishment- The nursery bed in this estate is located near the staff quarters. This
is where it obtains new seedlings for planting in new fields, replacing other infected bushes
and at times selling to the local community. Tea takes about four to six months in the nursery
before it can be ready for transplanting. During the period that I was in the Estate, I was taken
through the process of nursery establishment. The estate obtains vegetative parts of
propagation from their own mother bush. A site is selected; a nursery is erected and then
covered with a net around it to prevent dampness. In the nursery, tea takes about six to eight
months to get ready for transplanting depending on the type of clone.
ATTACHMENT 10

Before setting up a nursery, there are certain factors that must be considered, which include;

o The soil used should come from a virgin land for instance, in the forest.
o The soil should have no foreign materials.
o The pH should be between 4.5 and 5.6, averagely 5.0.
ATTACHMENT 11

o Only healthy propagating materials should be used.

o During planting, the materials should be treated with an appropriate pesticide.
o The cutting should have three parts, the bud, mother leaf and a single internode.

During planting;

o Collect a virgin top soil and sub-soil from the forest then sieve it in order to remove
foreign materials.
o Fill the 30 cm polythene sleeves about with the collected sub soil first, about two-
third full. Fill the remaining space with the collected top soil.
o Arrange the sleeves in an orderly manner in your nursery area.
o Water the soil thoroughly a day before planting until it reaches its saturation point.
o The cuttings are then planted on the sleeves, either one or two per sleeve.
o Apply foliar and pesticide.
o Cover the nursery bed with transparent polythene of 500 gauges.
o Monitor its performance.

Bringing tea into bearing

Tea is brought into bearing in Gakoe Tea Estate in the following ways:

a) Pruning
b) Tipping
c) Pegging

a) Pruning- The organization does its pruning after every four years after previous
pruning.

Pruning is done by pruning experts with the use of a pruning machine.

The bush height is reduced to about 20 inches.

Their reason for pruning is to encourage lateral growth, obtain a convenient table height
and to eliminate the unproductive and diseased bushes.

Pruning is done across the stem in order to reduce plant injury.

Immediately after pruning, a chemical mixed with Elianto oil is applied to the wounds in
order to prevent disease infestation and rotting.

b) Tipping- Is done thrice after pruning.

ATTACHMENT 12

The vertical tips are removed to increase lateral growth.

First tipping is done three months after pruning.

The second and the third tipping depend on how fast the field grows after the first tipping.

Tipping is guided by a tip cross, which has its required height.

The cross is placed at 75% of the uppermost part of the bush and then anything above the
cross is cut out.

During tipping, the side lines of the cross are placed facing along the contour.

c) Pegging- Involves use of natural sticks to control the growth of a tea bush especially
when aiming at promoting lateral growth and covering spaces between the bushes.

Although not common for an already established tea field, it is important for the Estate on
new tea fields.

The branches of a bush are carefully pinned down to the ground thus promoting
branching of the bushes.

Weed Control

The estate defines weed as any plant that grows where it is not wanted.

Such weeds were reported to be growing so fast in the estate whenever it was raining
season and whenever the fertilizers were applied.

Some of the common weeds in Gakoe included;

o Couch grass Datura Stratum

o Fern Blacknight shade
o Wondering Jew Minches (local name)
o Bidens Pilosa

The estate controls such weeds because;

o They compete with tea bushes for nutrients, moisture and sunlight
o Some has allelopathy effects on tea, for instance, gravellia
o They interfere with the plucking efficiency and maintenance of the table height.
o Some weeds are poisonous to the end product tea.
o Generally, KTRF notes that weeds reduces tea production by up to 40%
ATTACHMENT 13

Methods of Weed Control in Gakoe Tea Estate

Whereas there are many methods that can be used in controlling weeds, the Estate focuses
mainly on Chemical and mechanical weed control methods.

Chemical Control-The estate uses a chemical known as KlinSwip to clear weeds growing
around and not inside tea fields. The chemical is carefully applied by two experts and in their
correct concentration. The experts are always on Personal Protective Equipment whenever
they are spraying.

Mechanical Control- During my stay at the Estate, weeds growing inside the tea bushes were
never sprayed with chemicals as the chemicals used clears everything. They therefore could
employ a few man days to help uproot such weeds.

Weed control in the estate was usually done before flowering of the weeds in order to prevent
falling off of weed seeds during control.

Pests and Disease Control

The Estate classifies pests as any living thing that cause physical injury to tea bushes and in
excess may cause economic loss if not managed in proper time.

Pests in Tea may;

 Increase production cost because more cost will be directed to buying chemicals
which are never cheap.
 Cause leaf defoliation, yet in tea production it is the leaf that is the economically
important part.
 Reduce yield quantity and quality.
 Interfere with the operations of the workers,` especially the pluckers, for example the
wasps.

Examples of Common Pests in Gakoe Tea Estate include;

Moles Termites Ants

Elephants Wasps

The estate experiences serious problem with disease control as the two common diseases in
the estate are the Amilaria Root rot and Hypoxylin wood rot. Even though the Amilaria
ATTACHMENT 14

disease is a fungal disease, thus almost impossible to control, the Hypoxylin may be easily
controlled.

i. Hypoxylin Wood Rot

It is caused by a fungus from the Hypoxylin species.

It is a sectional killer that affects branch by branch until the whole bush is affected and then
the whole bush is killed.

The disease mainly affects the tea plants during or after injury as the ones brought about by
pruning.

To manage or control Hypoxylin;

 Cut and properly dispose of the already affected stems.

 After pruning, cover the injuries with leaves to prevent exposure to the fungi.
 After pruning, in order to prevent infestation, apply copper oxychloride mixed with
Elianto oil to the injured parts of each bush.
ii. Amilaria Root Rot

It is caused by a fungus called Amilaria.

The Estate refers to it as the plant HIV because of the way it spreads to the whole bush and
the resultant symptoms.

The some of the common symptoms of this disease include;

 Stunted growth
 Early flowering
 Vertical crack on the inside of the root
 Whitish powdered substance on the inside of the root of the affected plant observed
when the root is broken.
 Mushroom like smell at the root.
 Leaf defoliation, yellowing, browning and then eventual death of the whole bush.

As noted, the disease begins from the roots of the bush thus leading to the death of the
whole bush.

To manage or control Amilaria root rot;

ATTACHMENT 15

 Ring back cut stems as many times more possible, for not less than two years
before planting tea in a field.
 If possible, the cut trees with small stems and roots should be completely
uprooted.
 Completely uproot and destroy the already affected bushes. After uprooting, the
bushes are placed inside a sack and transferred to a place away from the field for
destruction, usually burning.
 Uprooting is done during the dry season
 Coffee husks have been proven to be effective when applied on the affected
regions of the field.
 Ensure proper general field hygiene.
ATTACHMENT 16

Soil Testing and Analysis

Gakoe Tea Estate carries out soil yearly before applying fertilizer to the fields. This is always
done either through leaf test or soil sampling.

In leaf testing, leaves are picked randomly using the methods that would also be used for soil
sampling. The soft mother leaf is what is picked, packaged and then sent to KTGA labs for
testing. The resultant analysis is taken to be the representation of the soil as the content of
each nutrient is determined. What is deficient in the leaves is taken to be deficient in the soil
itself hence applied during fertilizer application.
ATTACHMENT 17

In soil sampling, the estate uses a W- method to collect the samples. The samples are
collected, labelled, packaged and then sent to the KTGA laboratory for analysis.

During my stay, the estate used both methods all at once.

Fertilizer and Foliar Application

This is a very crucial stage in the estate done each year in all the plots all at the same period
of time.

The estate applies mostly fertilizers with high nitrogen content because the foliage is the most
economically important part in tea.

During fertilizer application, the management is usually very keen from the time of fertilizer
release from the store to the time of returning the fertilizer bags to the store after its
application.

This is because, among the many farmers the estate is working with, there are thieves who
would want to steal the fertilizer for their own use, resulting to a loss as a company.

In addition, if not properly applied, there may be either under or over application of fertilizer
which in turn results to a negative effect.

The kind of fertilizer usually applied at the Estate is NPK 25:5:5, NPK 26:5:5, NPK 22:6:12.

The fertilizer is applied at the rate of 150kgN/Ha. Well-fed bushes always show a dark green
and shiny leaf surface.

Importantly, the fertilizer is applied in splits in order to reduce loss through splits thus in a
year the estate applies twice just before the start of the rains.

Foliar application is usually incorporated with fungicides and other pesticides. However, this
is usually done under rare circumstances because KTDA requires as safe leaves as possible
before processing.

Plucking of Tea Leaves

The consumable part of tea is the foliage. This is what is processed into the finished product
of tea. The process of tea harvesting where the leaves are picked is what is referred to as
plucking.

Plucking can be done by two means, that is, use of machine and hand plucking.
ATTACHMENT 18

Whereas hand plucking has been proven to be the most effective way of getting the top most
tea quality, some tea estates still uses machine plucking probably in order to save on the cost
that would otherwise be used to pay the many tea pluckers.

Hand plucking is used when only the soft shoot is required. Machine plucking is used
whenever tea quality is not an issue.

Tea is plucked at different intervals ranging from 8 to 14 days depending on the tea clones,
weather and the number of years the tea has taken after the previous pruning.

Plucking therefore has different standards, that is;

 Hard plucking-everything above the plucking table is plucked.

 Soft plucking-Only the two soft leaves and a bud are plucked.
 Normal plucking-Two to three soft leaves and a bud are plucked.

The characteristic of a soft leaf is that it is yellowish unlike the normal foliage, colour green.

Tea Delivery to the Factory and Processing

Immediately after tea has been plucked, it is weighed in the presence of the different
pluckers for record keeping purposes and then transported to the factory.

Tea is transported to the factory in open bags with proper aeration in order to prevent
respiration.
ATTACHMENT 19

At the processing stage, tea goes through different important units which include;

Withering Unit-Tea is properly spread in service troughs and then steam is passed
through it for not more than 24 hours.

This is done at a temperature of 25°C in order to reduce the moisture content of the
foliage to about 66.7%.

Processing Unit- This is where the actual tea processing is done. Hygiene is paramount in this
unit.

Within the processing unit, tea first passes through the rota vane (with a CTC section).
The CTC section cuts, tears, and then curls the tea leaves before automatically passing it
to the Continuous Fermentation Unit (CFU).

The CFU section ensures proper fermentation of the now soft, well ground tea. No
fermentation enzyme is added because tea has its own enzymes (pectin and catechin).
This is the reason why tea has to be processed as soon as it is plucked.

Drying Unit- from the CFU, tea is passed to this unit where is it further dried. The drying unit
has three chambers; the wet end, mid end and the dry end chambers. Each chamber operates
under different temperatures as indicated below;

a) Wet end chamber- inlet-140-145°C, exhaust-35-45°C

b) Mid-end chamber- inlet-125-130°C, exhaust-55-60°C
ATTACHMENT 20

c) Dry end chamber- inlet-110-115°C, exhaust-85-90°C

By the time the tea leaves the dry-end chamber, its moisture content is very low nearly at zero
degree centigrade.

Sorting Unit- At this unit, there are three sub-sections; the fibre extraction, pre-sorting and
the final sorting units.

Fibre from the tea is removed as much as possible, pre-sorters does an introductory sorting
before it gets to the final sorting.

At the final sorting, tea is graded to different samples which includes;

 BP1 (Best Pekoe 1)-Big darker particles with no detectable fibre.

 PF1 (Pure Fanning 1)-Has tea particles of lesser size as compared to the BP1 but still
of high quality
 PD (Pure Dust)-Has some traceable fibre and its particles are smaller. This is what is
mostly used by the majority in Kenya.
 D1 (Dust 1)-Has more fibre and lesser particles almost the size of dust particles. It is
packaged and used as tea leaves.
 Dust (final grade)-The size of dust.

From sorting, most of the first grade is exported.

Gakoe Tea Estate SWOT Analysis

1. Strengths
a) The Estate employs more than 300 workers.
b) It is located in the middle of the Aberdare ranges thus providing a cool and suitable
environment for most of its workers.
c) The estate produces a lot of good quality tea as compared to many other estates
averagely about 120, 000kg per month.
d) The employees in the estate are getting paid well and in good time each year.
e) The Estate has plenty fresh water flowing directly through the forest thus better health
for its workers.
ATTACHMENT 21

f) The workers’ children easily attend different schools within the region. The very
young ones are taken to the day care and the kindergarten located within the tea
estate.
2. Weaknesses
a) The weather within the estate is too cold and might not be favourable for children as
can be seen by stunted growth and continuous nose fluid flow.
b) Its location in the middle of the forest exposes its workers to dangerous wild animals
especially the elephants.
c) There is very weak network coverage for both Safaricom and Airtel Services thus
complicating the communication efficiency of the region.
3. Opportunities
a) The Estate is located just next to the highway hence can be expanded as much as its
administration wants.
b) Any visitor can easily locate the estate because it is just next to the highway and the
roads are awesome.
c) The management of the Estate strongly supports capacity building hence a great
opportunity for internship and student attachment.
d) One can earn as much money as they want depending on the kind of hard work that
they put in place especially for the pluckers.
4. Threats
a) The tea estate faces a great threat of competition from other surrounding tea estates
especially when it comes to the payment of its workers.
b) With the recent introduction of machine plucking in most tea estates, the estate faces a
threat of not being able to produce good quality tea as well as losing opportunities for
most of its employees.

Summary of Practical Skills Gained in Gakoe Tea Estate

1) Effective management- During my stay at the estate, there was an ongoing case in
court on whether the workers should be given a 30% bonus. Working with most
workers most of whom did not get to form four, explaining to them as a management
was a bit cumbersome but we succeeded in convincing them to be a lot more patient
and wait for the court’s decision.
2) Effective Supervision- Not only did I go to the Tea Estate to learn, I was given an
opportunity to supervise some of the fields. This involved ensuring that the different
ATTACHMENT 22

activities within the estate are effectively and correctly carried out. There were certain
times when I had to put into practice my conflict resolution knowledge and it was
amazing as I successfully was able to settle any that arose under my jurisdiction.
3) Fertilizer and Chemicals Formulation- As a manager, one requires to have a skill in
the formulation and application of fertilizers and other chemicals. That I had an
opportunity of participating in.
4) Establishing a nursery- I had my own nursery which I successfully established and
took great care of as shown below.
5) Office Record Keeping- I also handled a lot of the office record books and sheets like
the weighing sheet and many more.
6) Handling of Cash and Paying workers- The Estate manager trusted me enough to give
me an opportunity to handle the Estate’s cash and pay the workers whenever we had
daily cash out. This, I was successfully able to handle.
7) Plucking tea- Not only was I a student and a staff member, I also participated in
activities like tipping, pruning and Pegging. I most especially was involved in the
process of plucking tea. This was not an easy task at first though.

Recommendations

 Fencing around the estate is necessary in order to control the movement of animals
like elephants to the estate.
 There is need to improve network coverage by the two network providers as the area
holds over 300 workers from all over Kenya who might want to communicate to their
families.

Conclusion

In conclusion, my attendance in Gakoe Tea Estate exposed me to a lot of skills in the tea
industry as now I believe I can effectively lead a tea estate when given any. The management
skill that I learnt does not only apply to the tea sector but any other agricultural sector of its
kind. Learning how to establish a tea nursery, tip, prune, pluck, apply fertilizer and other
chemicals as well as process tea was an amazing experience. In addition, in the process I was
able to get more connected to other managers and farmers from outside school. I can call my
stay and practice in Gakoe Tea Estate a success. I was getting congratulated almost by
everyone before leaving the estate as they claimed that of all the students that had attended
their attachment in the estate, I was the only student from the University of Nairobi and that I
ATTACHMENT 23

had outperformed the previous students from other universities and colleges by a wide range.
I was also able to leave the name of the University in the Estate, well labelled on my nursery
bed, a stage that none of the previous students had reached.

.
ATTACHMENT 24

Acknowledgement

I thank the University of Nairobi administration for giving me an opportunity out of class to
go to the field and experience what awaits me in the outside world after am done with my
first degree course. It is through one of the friends from the administration, Mr David
Ojwang’ that I was able to secure myself a position in one of the most competitive sectors in
Kenya and the world.

I also thank Mr David Ojwang’ who did everything possible in order to ensure that I got the
best opportunity for my practice and the best training condition that anyone could ever have
asked for.

I thank the Gakoe Tea Estate Administration for allowing me to undertake such an important
requirement in the fulfilment of my academic program. From the first day to the last, they
took me as though I was one of them. I sincerely thank the manager, Mr John Makokha who
took time out of his schedule to assign various supervisors (John, William, Calvins, Simon,
Mirriam and Kamau), the task to assist me each day during my stay. I am so grateful for the
Gakoe Tea Estate fraternity.

I also thank my family for the great support it gave me towards making this dream comes
true. I had all I needed from them and am very grateful.

Above everything am so grateful for the Most High God who did not only enable me get the
best opportunity but also assigned to me the best people I have ever worked with. All glory
belongs to Him for every success I saw during my field and industrial attachment period.
 ATTACHMENT 25

Appendices

List of Abbreviations

SWOT-Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

KTGA-Kenya Tea Growers Association

CFU-Continuous Fermentation Unit

CTC-Cutting, Tearing and Curling

KTDA-Kenya Tea Development Agency

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