Tea unseats tourism, becomes top foreign exchange earner

By Philip Mwakio and Patrick Beja

Tea has overtaken tourism to become the country's number one foreign exchange earner.

The commodity earned the country Sh97 billion last year, up from 73 billion in 2009, cementing its place as the single most important commodity in the economy.

“It is evident that tea is the most important single commodity for our economy and as a source of income for a large number of our people,” President Mwai Kibaki said.

He was speaking during the official opening of the First Africa Tea Convention and Exihibition held at the Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa, Mombasa Thursday.

More than 500 delegates drawn from tea growing nations in Africa and overseas are attending the inaugural meeting, which ends today.

Tea production rose 28 per cent last year from 310 million to 399 million kilogrammes, accounting for 10 per cent of the global tea output.

Serious challenges

But Kibaki noted that the sector faces serious challenges such as inadequate value addition leading to export of tea in bulk, high cost of production, poor diversification and fluctuating international prices.

He called on players in the sector to respond to consumer demands, and comply with international tea production standards in order to sustain the tea industry in Africa.

He also urged players on the continent to form partnerships and take advantage of investment opportunities and take measures to mitigate against climate change.

“Ultimately, the bottom line will be the quality of tea we produce. I therefore appeal to our tea farmers to strive to produce quality tea that will continue attract better prices that will help fight poverty,’’ he said.

Agriculture Minister, Dr Sally Kosgei said the convention provides key avenues for stakeholders in the sector to promote the commodity to a world that has not fully known Africa’s quality tea.

Bearing fruits

Kosgei lauded recent reforms carried out in the tea sector, saying they were bearing fruit as the industry had introduced a mark of origin, which promotes value addition for Kenyan produced tea in the global market.

During the meeting, President Kibaki recognised three African teas for their top quality.

They are Gisovu and Kitabi, both from Rwanda and Imenti tea from Kenya.