The spread of Covid-19 across the world and in Kenya negatively impacted the earnings of tea farmers in the country according to data from the Tea Directorate.
Kenyan farmers lost 5,000,000,000 (5 billion) shillings for the first six months of this year (2020) as the pandemic impacted negatively on the demand of the “green gold” from the international markets.
According to the data from the Directorate, Kenyan farmers received 55 billion shillings between January and June 2020, a drop from 60 billion shillings recorded at the same time in 2019.
A kilogram of green tea on the international market dropped from 239 shillings to 221 shillings while the volume of tea exported dropped by 2,000,000 kilograms during the period under review.
Kenya often exports its tea in raw form to international markets. The largest buyers of Kenyan tea are Pakistan, Egypt, Afghanistan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The coming of Covid-19 led to the imposing of lockdowns in most countries around the world, affecting the movement of both people and goods.
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The opening of airspaces
As the pandemic continues to spread across the world, many countries have started opening up their airspace, allowing in goods and individuals, as well as opening up the tourism sector.
Kenyan opened up her international airspace on August 1, 2020, allowing visitors from over 11 countries around the world to land and leave the country.
Kenya Airways has already announced that it will be resuming the flights to New York in October, depending on how the demand will be coming along.
The opening of airspaces is set to help businesses to start picking up and the export of such products as tea back to its normal supply.
Tea farmers have also been complaining of middle-men who buy their tea at low prices only to sell it three times the price at an auction in Mombasa.
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