Nairobi, February 10th, 2023: Kenya has today flagged off its first ever consignment of value-added tea to Australia, in a move aimed at diversifying the country’s export produce.

The demand for Tea in the international market has led to the decline in Kenya’s tea export in the last one year. Tea export has also plummeted due to the raging Russia-Ukraine conflict, persistent drought in major tea producing areas and the weakening shilling against the dollar. Tea price has been plummeting since the beginning of 2023, with the first sale recorded at $2.2.

Kenya’s overseas Tea exports fell by 22% to 333.4 million kilograms in the first 9 months of 2022 signalling the first such decline since 2017 according to the Tea Board of Kenya. The tea production in the 9-month period dropped by 2%.

The emergence of Australia as a potential tea export destination will help farmers diversify their export markets hence reducing the reliance on the traditional markets. The largest markets for the Kenyan beverage between January and September of 2022 were Pakistan, Egypt, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, accounting for 69% of the exports.

The Oceania nation has been purchasing less tea from the auction, but the volumes are on a steady rise, increasing by 20% last year to 2,005 tons as compared to 1, 665 tons last year.

Kenya is continuously investing millions in the tea sector a move that will not only create jobs but also increase forex earnings. President William Ruto has also directed the ministry of Trade to increase the export of value added tea from the current 5% to 50% in the next 5 years.

In his bid to increase Tea exports and to optimize the Tea industry in Kenya, President William Ruto announced the funding of a public-private processing and packaging plant in Mombasa besides approving $6 million to increase the production of orthodox tea at 10 Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factories.

‘We aim at broadening our export base by focusing on value addition of our primary exports in order to open market penetration and counter competition from similar producers. Export markets are leaning towards value-addition in order to maximize on export proceedings. Kenya is not any different. Our sectors such as tea, flowers, fruits, vegetables, coffee and textile have enough resources to create a secondary means of income. Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency and its stakeholders are working to capacity build our producers while also actively scouting for new markets globally,’ said Ms. Floice Mukabana, Ag. CEO Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency.

H.E President William Ruto on October 5th, 2022, flagged of the inaugural consignment of value-added tea to Ghana under the AFCFTA Initiative on Global Guided Trade programme aimed at kickstarting among African nations that are ready to start trade relations through utilization of AFCFTA Preferences. 

Kenya was one of the eight countries selected to participate in the pilot phase of the AfCFTA guided trade initiative. The other nations selected for the initiative including Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Tunisia, Cameroon and Mauritius. The piloting countries are required to identify products that can access each other’s markets.

Kenya through the AfCFTA ad hoc committee identified several products including tea, batteries, confectionery, leather bags, incinerators, beaded products, vehicular filters, textiles, sisal fibre, avocados and fresh produce for the pilot phase of the pragramme.  Kenyan tea will therefore be able to penetrate the intra-African market thus increasing our forex revenue besides uplifting the economic well-being of small-scale tea growers and farmers in the country.

Through African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA), Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency will conduct market surveys and research in 5 other African Regional Economic Communities namely: Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN–SAD), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to access new market frontiers for Kenyan Products in line with the Agency’s mission and vision and with the 2021-2023 strategic plan.