- Some of the initiatives aimed at sustainability and inclusion that have been mainstreamed by the sector are forestry and wood-fuel sustainability practices.
- President William Ruto's dreams of planting 15 billion trees by 2030.
Image: Felix Kipkemoi
Big tea growers in Kenya are focusing energies on environmental sustainability to safeguard the production of a crop that accounts for the country's 26 percent export income.
The new Kenya Tea Growers Association CEO Lindah Oluoch told the Star that the current climate change impacts and unpredictable weather pose a threat to the sector with increasing incidences of drought such as that experienced in the early months of 2023.
According to her, employing sustainable farming practices to mitigate and minimize climate change impacts has become imperative for tea producers and farmers to ensure a sustainable tea business.
"The sector players acknowledge that economic sustainability, environmental protection, social investments and stakeholder engagement and inclusion are key to the sector’s continued growth,''she said.
In an interview with the Star, Oluoch said the industry cannot ignore the impacts of climate change, considering that tea production has been affected by drought as recently as early in 2023.
In this regard, he said, tea producers have historically embraced the adoption of sustainability standards as a critical part of their production activities.
"Sustainable tea production means sustainable crop husbandry systems, decent employment of workers supporting the sector and indeed sustainable tea markets."
Some of the initiatives aimed at sustainability and inclusion that have been mainstreamed by the sector are forestry and wood fuel sustainability practices, minimal use of food-grade fertiliser and manual management of weeds.
Others are the preservation of indigenous forests found within large-scale producers’ farms and collaborative efforts to protect the environment and forest zones such as Mau Forest and large-scale solar power installation.
The sector has also invested in extensive research to attain high-yielding tea varieties that ensure optimum production in partnership with the public and private sectors as well as the community.
In addition to the donations of tree seedlings to local communities to help in actualising President William Ruto's dream of planting 15 billion trees by 2030.
The lobby also empowers local communities and small-holder farmers through information on the benefits of environmental preservation, the impacts of climate change and the efforts we can take at an individual as well as community level to play our part in mitigating those impacts.
"This underscores the value that tea producers can give towards the attainment of 10 percent national forest cover. Additionally, some 800 acres of the Mau Forest have been restored over seven years."
Touching on the governance aspect of ESG, the new boss says as a responsible industry, large-scale producers remain alert to the obligation of business to ensure the preservation of the rights of employees at the workplace.
For instance, large-scale producers have put in place robust mechanisms to ensure compliance with international labor standards.
"We take any failures in this regard seriously. We identified areas where there were challenges in guaranteeing acceptable conditions of work and took immediate comprehensive actions to remedy the issues."
Oluoch said that members continually review and improve governance and leadership including refining recruitment processes, building awareness and empowering employees to report any incidents.
"As a female leader, this is an area where I am committed to getting it right so that the many benefits that the sector has ensured for our economy through rural economic activation and sustaining livelihoods are not lost,'' Oluoch said.
She is calling for timely policies that will see the industry realize its full potential to realize the best prices in the global market.
"Many factors affect the prices of tea. There is currently high tea production and this underscores the urgency of opening up new markets. Market expansion has therefore been paramount since yesterday."
She says that this can be through increasing local consumption, adding that it has many health benefits. She also counts on the market opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
"I believe seizing every opportunity to expand our markets and preserving existing markets are two crucial strategies for the sector’s sustainability."
She adds that ''We should embrace value addition of tea. Increasingly, the tastes of consumers locally and internationally are becoming more refined. The youth are an untapped consumer base.''
The value of tea that Kenya sold in the first 11 months of 2023 surpassed the country’s total earnings in 2022, defying global shocks.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reported that the East African nation earned $1.05 billion (Sh169 billion) between January and November 2023 from a volume of 511 million kilogrammes.
This marked an increase from the 860 million dollars earned in 2022 from a volume of 410 million kilogrammes.
"Opportunity is therefore ripe to enhance the competitive advantage of our tea in the global market by mainstreaming the positive practices across both large and small-scale producers."
Touching on the ongoing forex debate in the country after the Kenyan shilling rallied against the US dollar to close the week at a recent low of Sh144, Oluoch said the sector has not benefited from the exchange rate volatilities.
According to her, although general perceptions favor the view that the industry has been favoured by the forex turbulence facing the Kenya Shilling, the industry has in the past several months faced the lowest prices at the Auction.
Data shows that the prices have been at a 40-year low. This appears largely to have been the consequence of an accumulation of volumes of unsold teas over the past two years.
"With the low prices, this blessing has been inconsequential because rather than realizing a higher return, the tea incomes have gone into balancing the high cost of production with the increased taxes, fuel, and energy costs,'' she said.
She says that these factors have negated any gains that may have been realised on account of the weaker Kenya shilling.
Even so, she believes that the goals of business and the goals of government converge in ensuring better livelihoods for citizens.
"Kenya’s economic prosperity is therefore inextricably linked to the tea sub-sector’s sustainability considering the high number of people who derive their livelihoods directly and indirectly from tea."