Climate change threatens East Africa's tea production, UN warns

The UN food agency said on Monday that tea production in East Africa is under growing threat of climate change.

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations(FAO) Kenya Country Representative Robert Allport told an agricultural forum in Nairobi that higher maximum and lower minimum temperatures is affecting tea production.

"Some estimates indicate that due to the impact of climate change, East Africa could loss 55 percent of its tea production by the year 2050," Allport said.

Experts have noted that climate change has increased the frequency as well as period of drought in Kenya

"At the moment during drought years, Kenya loses between 20 to 30 percent of its tea yield," Allport added.

The country representative said that climate change also affects the quality of tea produced in East Africa.

Allport added that FAO is working closely with East African governments to help mitigate the negative effects of climate change.

"FAO is concerned about the issue of price equity in the tea value chain. Our role is to support regulations that will enable consistent and equitable price," Allport said.

According to him, global demand for tea will remain stable in the foreseeable future as population grows, noting that despite tea being a multi-billion dollar industry, tea farmers receive little compensation.

"What remains for Kenya is for those involved in the tea sector to harness demand to ensure that tea revenue are equitably distributed across all players in the value chain," the country representative said. Endit