Experts call for action as climate change threatens tea sector
By George.Kebaso, September 13, 2023Players in the tea industry has been urged to come up with measures to mitigate the pain of climate change which has seen dwindling leaf supply in the wake of poor rainfall conditions.
Unprecedented drought and frosty conditions, hailstorms and rising temperatures in recent times are associated with the changing climate conditions that have jolted the sector players.
John Mutua, Procurement Director at Liptons Teas and Fusions said during a side event at the African Climate Summit last week that a collaborative strategy will ease the impact of climate change.
Tea farmers in Kenya have continued to see tea earnings from the crop increasingly dwindling by up to 70 per cent with the rising challenges associated with harsh weather like massive employee layoffs.
A panel discussion at the Africa Climate week in Nairobi themed: Kenya as a role model championing sustainable tea practices to create value, warned that despite the sector’s growth in the last 15 years, tea production is facing major challenges.
“Tea production is already being disrupted by rising temperatures, droughts, frosts and unpredictable weather patterns,” noted Mutua, cautioning that if urgent climate action is not taken, the tea ecosystem runs the risk of being completely damaged.
Liptons Teas and Fusions and companies such as the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) which represents more than half a million smaller-scale tea farmers and a group of tea farms under Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) are trying to address the impact of climate change.
The Chairperson of KTGA and MD Kipkebe – Sasini Plc, Silas Njibwakale said that as representative of the growers, the companies had made significant progress in climate mitigation measures.
“However, we do understand that we need to do more by scaling up the strategies required to arrest the situation,” he said, explaining what some of the KTGA membership doing to combat Climate Change.