Kenya’s earnings from tea exports last year dropped 15 per cent from a year earlier due to poor global prices. Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that the crop, which has been Kenya’s largest foreign exchange earner, brought in Ksh85.6 billion down from Sh100 billion in 2013.
More than 50 per cent of the country’s income comes from agricultural exports such as tea, coffee and horticulture, and a drop significantly affects earnings across the value chain from exporters and manufacturers to the farmer.
Latest data shows that of the traditional tea varieties trading in world markets, Kenya and Sri Lanka are the world’s top exporters, jointly accounting for 40 per cent of market. China follows closely with a 17 per cent stake while India is third with 14 per cent.
It is these statistics that have led some to suggest that Kenya needs to explore new markets for its black tea, which, however, may not help much given that other producers have been increasing their output.
Lately, though, there has been a push to venture into special varieties of tea to develop niche markets. Kenya has the distinction of being the only country that produces the “magical” purple tea – which fetches three to four times the price of black tea – and with a well-established domestic as well as export markets.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@nairobilawmonthly.com, and to advertise with us, call +254715061658 anytime of the day
