Rain may lift Kenyan tea output

NAIROBI: Kenya, the world's biggest grower of black tea, may see a 10 percent rise in output of the leaves in January following torrential rains that have fallen since December, said Peter Kegode, an agricultural economist.

Tea and coffee require a lot of water and won't be washed away because they are deep-rooted, Kegode, who advises sugar, dairy and tea industry associations, said in a phone interview from Nairobi. "There has been above-average rain in tea- and coffee-growing areas. There should be 10 percent increase in tea production," he said.

Tea production will increase immediately because the leaves are picked daily, Kegode said, while this won't be the case for coffee as January isn't its flowering season.