By Antynett Ford

Tea farmers in Kenya’s Rift Valley are facing a sharp drop in green leaf prices after Sudan halted imports of Kenyan tea, with prices falling by nearly a third at some private factories, amid wider global disruptions in key export markets.

Sudan imposed the ban in March in protest at Kenya’s ties with the Rapid Support Forces, one of the militia factions in Sudan’s civil war. The country was previously among Kenya’s top five tea buyers and a key market for factories in Nandi and Kericho, where farmers say the effects have been swift and severe.

“Private factories have reduced the price of green tea from the average Sh25, which has been since January last year, by Sh8,” said Kericho farmer Robert Kiplangat. “The factories told us that the ban by Sudan, where most of the tea in the region is exported to, has greatly impacted even the weekly auction in Mombasa.”

Robert said prices from private buyers had fallen to Sh17 a kilo, despite a rise in production following the rollout of subsidised fertiliser. “We hope that the ban will soon be lifted and business will go back to normal,” he said.

But Sudan’s ban has come as one of a series of geopolitical blows to Kenya’s biggest export crop, which earned Sh180bn in 2023. Pakistan, which buys more than 41 per cent of all Kenyan tea, has reduced its imports following heightened trade tension after renewed border clashes with India in late 2024. The conflict saw Pakistan’s rupee weaken further, squeezing foreign exchange allocations for imports, including tea.

Now Iran, another market, faces new international banking restrictions following its entry into the war with Israel, which traders fear could disrupt payments and shipping.

While the worst price shocks are being felt in the West of the Rift, farmers in central Kenya, such as in Kiambu and Murang’a, say they have not yet been affected. “Price changes have affected private factories, especially from the Rift Valley region,” said farmer Joseph Ngure. “Some of my friends have shared that some factories have reduced to as low as Sh17 per kilogram for green leaf.”

Joseph, who delivers to a Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) factory, said the agency’s eastern and central factories had more diversified markets in the Middle East and Europe, shielding them from recent disruptions.

Market data from the East African Tea Trade Association (EATTA) shows that tea prices at the Mombasa auction have slipped from an average of Sh292.08 ($2.26) per kilo to Sh284.33 ($2.20) over the last year. High-quality teas, which fetched up to Sh388.50 ($3) per kilo in early 2024, are becoming harder to sell as buyers tighten budgets or pull out.

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EATTA has warned that if the current trend continues, average prices could fall below the $2 mark, a threshold many factories need to remain profitable.

Factories in Nandi and Kericho have been the hardest hit, with EATTA noting that they produce lower-quality tea than their Eastern counterparts, which makes their tea slower to sell when demand falls.

Before the ban and trade tensions, Mombasa auction prices had averaged between $2.30 (Sh297.25) and $2.50 (Sh323.10), with absorption rates above 78 per cent. That figure is now falling, leaving more tea unsold and driving down prices further.