Kenya’s Tea Export Earnings Output is Rising in 2018

Kenya’s tea export earnings are forecast to rise further this year, while total output is expected to improve after a fall in production last year, the Agriculture and Food Authority’s Tea Directorate said.

Export earnings will rise by five percent in 2018 to 135 billion shillings ($1.33 billion), while total output is expected to hit 452 million kilograms (kg) buoyed by good weather conditions, after drought had cut the country’s production in 2017, the directorate said in a statement.

The East African nation is the biggest exporter of black tea in the world, and tea is also the leading source of foreign exchange.

Total export earnings rose to 129 billion shillings in 2017 - the highest in five years - from 120 billion shillings a year earlier, while total output was down seven percent to 439 million kg.

Drought hit many parts of Kenya’s farming areas in early 2017, affecting the output of tea while processing factories received fewer deliveries.