TEA EARNINGS GO UP ON THE BACK OF GOOD WEATHER

A tea picker picks tea at Unilever Tea Estate in Kericho. Tea earnings improved significantly in the third quarter this year in comparison to last year, as a result of a strong dollar and increased demand of Kenyan tea by our traditional buyers. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA 

By GERALD ANDAE

Kenya’s export earnings from tea grew by 34 per cent in the third quarter of the current financial year, helped by high demand from the country’s major buyers and a strong dollar.

Data from the Tea Directorate indicate that the earnings increased to Sh35 billion between January and March compared to Sh26 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The value of Kenyan tea per kilogramme in the period under review also improved from Sh219 to Sh277, registering a significant growth.

“The earnings from tea improved significantly in the third quarter this year in comparison to last year, as a result of a strong dollar and increased demand of Kenyan tea by our traditional buyers,” said Agriculture Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA) director general Alfred Busolo.

Figures from the directorate indicate that exports to the United Kingdom, Egypt and Afghanistan grew substantially while the quantities purchased by Pakistan, which is the country’s leading buyer of black tea, grew marginally.

Volumes exported to Egypt between January and March this year went up by 34 per cent to 24 million kilogrammes from 17. 8 million kilos last year.

“We have witnessed a good growth in the exports to our major market, but this notwithstanding, we are looking for other new markets to boost our earnings,” he said.

Egypt has been one of Kenya’s major tea buyers but the volumes have been dwindling in the recent years due to civil unrest in the northern African country, according to the tea directorate.
SOURCE: NMG