Tea in Kenya

Tea was introduced to Kenya as early as 1903. G.W. Caine, a European settler was the first to grow it in a shamba using seedlings he had imported from India.

Today, Kenya is the oldest tea producer in Africa and since 1995, has been the largest exporter in the world. Tea production in Kenya has expanded dramatically in the last 10-12 years and it has replaced coffee as the highest foreign exchange earner with a total annual production reaching over 300 million kilograms. We pride ourselves as the producer of the best quality black tea in the world.

Kenyan Tea has long been considered a health-enhancing beverage. It is a natural drink that contains no additives, preservatives or artificial coloring and is cholesterol free when taken without milk or sugar. It is famous for its brightness, attractive color, brisk flavor and textures of fragrant leaves. Kenya tea has won international acclaim for its consistent high quality and excellent delightful aroma. This is what makes Kenyan tea one of the most sought out teas in the world.

The remarkable growth in the tea industry is attributed to the conducive investment policy for the estates sub-sector particularly, the non-interference policy from the Tea Board on production, processing and marketing activities.

Tea in Kenya is divided into two categories namely:-

A) Privately owned large plantations like Brooke Bond, African Highlands (formerly James Finlay) and Eastern Produce Limited.These privately owned plantations are known as the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA). They control slightly over 40 percent of Kenya’s tea.

B) The second category is the small scale farmers who have formed a co-operative. Co-op tea is managed by the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) and they control nearly sixty percent of Kenya’s tea.

Farmers do not appear to understand and appreciate the costs of the services they receive from KTDA and how much the same services would cost if supplied from other providers. KTDA provides farm inputs and management of small-holder tea as well as tea collection, processing and marketing of tea on behalf of the farmers.

Tea in Kenya is grown at 1500- 2700 meters above seal level. These conditions are evident in the Kenyan rift valley. The eastern part of the rift valley is defined by the Aberdare highlands and most of the large scale plantations are in the west of the Rift Valley. Best KTDA teas grow in the Eastern region of the valley.

Our country has a high altitude, fertile land, proximity to the Equator and is also blessed with a temperate climate, perfect for tea growing.

Kenya enjoys two rain seasons, April/May (long Rains) and October/ November (Short Rains) March is the driest month and July the coldest. During these rainy seasons, the crop is very high and factories are usually unable to handle the volume. August/September are top quality tea seasons.

Tea bushes are cultivated by first obtaining cuttings from mature trees, they are then tended in special nurseries until they are 12- 15 mths. The cuttings are then planted 1 metre to 1.5 metres apart in the fields. The tea is planted along the contours of the landscape, on special terraces which helps reduce soil errosion, and allows for Irrigation in low rainfall seasons or in cases of drought.

Due to that fact there are no First, Second or Autumnal flushes. The tea is picked every 17 days year round. after picking the tree bush takes another two weeks for it to grow fresh two leaves and a bud for picking.

In Kenya most tea is individually hand picked by skilled workers. They ensure that the tea is not bruised or damaged because this can spoil the flavour of the tea.

The factories are co-op run, the co-op sends a truck to its members where the tea is weighed and the members given a sheet indicating how much they have given to the co-op.

Withering

The tea is then placed in withering troughs at the factory or processing center. withering allows the leaves to become more pliable and easy to cut, this is a time consuming process and care has to be taken not to destroy the tea.

This is done by using a rotovane and three crush, tear and curling(CTC )machines. Most of the tea produced in Kenya is CTC(cut, tear and curl) grade. Tea made by CTC method has more infusion giving surfaces and brews stronger, thicker, brighter and brisk teas, which ensure maximum cup page per unit weight.

Fermentation

Its during this stage that Kenya black tea acquires its strong flavors and makes it uniquely different from other teas. A coppery color and a fermented tea aroma which takes place after 45 min to 3 hours means or indicates that fermentation is complete.

Drying

The tea is then dried and prepared for tasting. Tea tasters asses smell color and uniformity of the dried leaves. From here tea is transported to the port city of Mombasa where there is the only tea auction in central and eastern Africa.

Concerted efforts should be made to promote value addition in tea for export. Some stakeholders in the tea sector have observed that further liberalization of the small-holder tea sub-sector on the activities currently undertaken by KTDA may solve some of the problems which affect continued development of this sub-sector. This should however be done with caution and proper research should be done to identify the most appropriate services to be liberalized with a view to protecting the farmers from exploitation by agents, which already exists in other sectors.