Prices at the Mombasa tea auction have averaged around $1.80 this year, consistently below the critical $2 mark, and in early July touched a five-year low of $1.65. Current prices will “further impoverish” many farmers, with small-scale farmers the most affected, Manyinsa, says.
A dedicated agency is needed to give priority to lifting exports to the main buyers of Kenyan tea, namely Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and the United Kingdom, Manyinsa says. Kenya also needs to research tea plant species with high yields which are likely to have tolerance to climate change, he adds.