Has cuppa had its chips?

Climate change is a threat to favourites

TUCKING into a plate of chips with a mug of tea is under threat from climate change.

Kenya produces half the black tea drunk here, but is facing changes to its weather, including erratic rainfall with floods and longer droughts, which will affect production.

A Christian Aid report says climate change will slash optimal conditions for tea production by a quarter by 2050 with a fall in production of 39%.

And potato blight, a disease that can destroy whole crops, is becoming more common in the UK because of the warmer, wetter weather.

Potatoes will have to be replaced by small root vegetables and lettuce with dandelion leaves, experts at Kew Gardens in South West London say.

A TV programme starting this week on Channel 5 shows how gardeners and scientists worked together at Kew during lockdown.

Helena Dove, who runs the kitchen garden at Kew, said two roots, Oculus tuberosa and Tropaeolum tuberosum, are being tested in the hope they can be substituted if potato crops become unviable. She is also working to find alternatives for lettuce, which may not survive dry summers.

She said: “We are growing tropical leaves, orache, tree spinach. They are traditionally grown for their grain but the leaves are edible so they can replace spinach.”

The Christian Aid report said more rain would result in inferior leaves, giving a poorer taste and reducing beneficial compounds. Richard Koskei, 72, a tea farmer from Kericho, Kenya, said: “We cannot predict seasons any more. It will make life extremely difficult.” Kew Gardens: A Year in Bloom is on Channel 5 on Thursday at 8pm.