The worldwide economic crisis and the bad weather, which caused a decline in production and decreased purchases by the nation’s traditional purchasers between January and October, were two problems that Kenya’s tea sector faced in 2017.
The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) has since stated that it anticipates a decline in tea output and exports in 2022 as a result of the pattern continuing in November and December.
Despite these difficulties, tea prices increased, reaching their highest level in three years at the Mombasa auction.
Between January and October, prices were on average $.249 (Sh308) per kilogram (kg), with small-scale farmers’ tea selling for $2.71 (Sh336) per kilogram during that time.
The board stated in a report on the industry’s performance for October that tea production decreased between January and October, albeit only by a small 1.34 percent.
This was linked to unfavorable weather, and it added that the rains in October and December weren’t enough to stop the decline. There are signs that production will be lower in 2022.
According to the data, cumulative production for the 10-month span decreased by 5.81 million kgs, coming in at 428.77 million kgs, as opposed to the 434.58 million kgs that were recorded during the same period in 2021.
According to reports from the Kenya Meteorological Department, “going by the trend to October, lower cumulative production is likely to be recorded for the year 2022 because the rainfall recorded during the’short rains’ season was depressed (below average) and poorly distributed in both time and space.”
The amount that the nation exported decreased by 21%, while customers in important export markets saw lower spending, according to TBK.
Pakistan, Kenya’s largest export market, had a 13% decline in the amount it purchased during the previous 10 months.
Other significant consumers of Kenyan tea reported even greater declines, with Egypt, the second-largest export market, reporting a 33% decrease, the UK reporting a 29% reduction, Sudan reporting a 35% decline, Russia reporting a 37% decline, and Kazakhstan reporting a 40% decline.
The Tea Board of Kenya reported that the cumulative export volume from January to October 2022 was 21% lower than the same time the previous year (467.90 million kgs vs. 370.58 million kgs).
