Tea companies have agreed to slow mechanization after Kenya protests – but for how long?
As automation hits women’s jobs, unions in Kenya fight back.
Allan Olingo
Allan Olingo is The Fuller Project's East Africa Bureau Chief, based in Nairobi. Previously, he was the Group News Editor, Print and Broadcast for Nation Media Group, where he led the integrated Newsdesk in delivering digital-first news to Kenyan audiences. Prior to that, he was News Editor at The EastAfrican, where he was responsible for gathering and analyzing facts on newsworthy events through interviews and investigations, covering business, diplomacy and foreign policy news across Africa. In this role, he managed a team of 70 correspondents in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.
Allan's experience spans eleven years in print and digital media with a focus on business, technology, diplomacy and human interest beats in East Africa and Africa. He has also held various positions within the Nation Media Group as a senior reporter for The EastAfrican, Bureau Chief and Breaking News Editor for the Daily Nation.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communications from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Science in Digital Audience Strategy from Arizona State University. He is also an alumni of the Bloomberg Media Initiative from the Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya and an alumni of the United States Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)-2020.
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Reporter’s Notebook: Kenya’s tea sector is automating fast, pushing women workers into a financial crisis.
30,000 women have lost their jobs in Kenya’s tea sector in the last five years due to automation — now they’re struggling to get by.
Women workers at high risk from automation
In Kenya’s tea plantations, labor activists say thirty thousand women have lost their jobs as a result of automation — they represent a broader global trend, with experts saying women are more likely than men…
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