Kenyan tea producers feel the pinch as demand wanes

Kenyan farmers are feeling the effects of Egypt's instability as demand for tea falls significantly, Think Africa Press reports exclusively.
The daily online site notes that in 2010, the last year before the uprising in Egypt, Kenya supplied the United Kingdom with around half of its tea, but Egypt was the single largest destination for Kenyan tea exports, buying nearly a fifth of what the factories around Nyeri produce.
With the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 and the ongoing campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood causing continued political instability, demand has plummeted and prices have gone with them, said Think Africa Press.
“It's a supply and demand issue,” Chai Kiarie, field services manager at Gitugi Tea Factory, was reported as saying. “We produced more tea this year, but we still made nearly US$2 million less than we did last year. With these problems abroad, the demand just isn't there.”