The Independent says Kenya supplies roughly half of Britain's black tea. Western growers say erratic weather is cutting harvests and incomes. Fintea manager Nelson Ngeno said output across five cooperatives was 30% below typical harvest levels in May and June.
Farmers in Kericho and Bomet describe rain during normally dry periods, unusual heat, storms and drought. A January hailstorm damaged thousands of tea plants in Kabartegan; smallholder Lilian Mutai Levin Langot said she lost her harvest and had to borrow. Paul Kipsigei Koech told the Press Association he earns 3,000–4,000 Kenyan shillings a month and can provide his wife, seven children and elderly father just one daily meal of maize.
Growers say they see little benefit from higher global tea prices, arguing that middlemen, brokers and large companies take much of the profit. Fintea said the share of its tea sold on Fairtrade terms fell from about 5% to below 1%, reducing cooperative premiums for climate resilience and social projects. Lidl says it will buy more Fintea tea under Fairtrade terms and add funding through a new tea, Way To Go!; Fintea says this could lift its share to about 2.6%. The Fairtrade Foundation says only one in five Kenyan tea farmers earns enough each month for family essentials.
