Tea production by smallholder farmers contracted by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) grew by 16.03 percent in the 10 months to October last year, beating the pace of production from large estates, independent growers, and State-owned Nyayo Tea Zones.
Fresh data from the Tea Board of Kenya shows smallholder tea growers produced 260.6 million kilogrammes (kg) of tea between January and October 2024, marking a significant increase from an output of 224.5 million kilogrammes in the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile, tea production from large estates largely owned by multinationals saw a 0.25 percent rise in output rising to 118.4 million kilogrammes from 118.1 million kilogrammes.
On the other hand, production of the green leaf from Nyayo Tea Zones, which are run by the State-owned Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation, plummeted by 23.46 percent to 4.1 million kilogrammes down from 5.4 million kilogrammes.
Independent growers also recorded a decline in production of 4.13 percent to 111.9 million kilogrammes down from 116.8 million kilogrammes.
Output from smallholder tea farmers raised the total tea production in the country during the 10-month period to 495.2 million kilogrammes, which is an increase of 6.5 percent from 465 million k ilogrammes during the same period in the previous year.
“Higher production was due to favourable weather recorded during the first four months of the year, with rainfall ranging from near-to-above average amounts compared to the trend for the same period over the years owing to the El-Nino weather phenomenon,” said the board.
The contrasting production figures between smallholders, estates, independents, and Nyayo Tea Zones are attributed tothe difference in the regions where the grower segments farm their teas.
Last year, tea-growing areas west of the Rift Valley received lower rainfall compared to those east of the Rift Valley, leading to comparatively lower production.
Over 97 percent of tea plucked from large tea estates comes from estates located in the west of the Rift Valley.
“Across the tea manufacturers, lower production was mostly recorded by the estate factories due to their wider coverage in areas that experienced low rainfall conditions West of Rift, mostly in Bomet and Kisii/Nyamira counties,” said the board.
Similarly, Nyayo Tea Zones produce more than 68 percent of their tea from west of the Rift Valley, the same as independent tea farmers, who produce more than 88 percent of their tea from the region.
This means that their output was affected by the lower rainfall that the region received.
In contrast, the majority of tea produced by smallholder farmers contracted to KTDA comes from farms located in the east of the Rift Valley, which received ample rainfall during the period.
In the 10 months to October, more than 53 percent of tea from smallholder farmers was plucked from the region, translating to bumper harvests.
