A farmer plucking tea.
Tea growers in the west of the Rift Valley(WoR), who are affiliated to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), face another round of slumped earnings this year amid subdued demand at the auction in Mombasa.
Fresh data showed that tea grown in zones west of the Rift Valley fetched an average Sh226.17 a kilo over the nine months to September 2025, compared to Sh270.11 in a similar period of last year, translating to a Sh43.94 drop or 16.26percent.
The main tea-growing zones west of the Rift Valley in Kenya include Kisii, Kericho, Nandi, and Nyamira counties.
Comparatively, tea grown in zones East of the Rift Valley fetched Sh379.96 a kilo at the auction in the nine months to September 2025, down from Sh387.72 realised in a similar period, marking a drop of Sh7.76 a kilo or two percent.
The main tea growing zones east of the Rift Valley include Kiambu, Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Meru, and Embu counties.
The slump in earnings for the KTDA growers came as the overall average price of tea sold at the Mombasa auction over the first nine months of this year dipped to Sh262.35, compared to Sh264.94 in 2024—an equivalent of a marginal 0.9 percent drop.
With just three months to the close of the year, the steep price drop trend shows that KTDA farmers west of the Rift Valley are likely to suffer another year of lower earnings—extending a bad run registered in 2024.
“Offsetting the massive drop in the average prices of tea is unlikely in the remaining three months, and I project that farmers from the west of the Rift Valley will close the year with another drop in earnings. Those from the east are in a better recovery position and could get similar earnings as last year or better,” a Mombasa-based tea broker said.
In 2024, tea from the East of Rift, Kiambu, fetched Sh371 per kilo, a drop of Sh46 from last year. Murang’a earned Sh376, down by Sh42; Nyeri earned Sh388, down by Sh42; Kirinyaga earned Sh400, down by Sh38; Embu earned Sh404, down by Sh34; and Meru earned Sh381, down by Sh46.
In the West of Rift, Kericho earned Sh245, a drop of Sh101; Bomet earned Sh209, a drop of Sh85; Nyamira earned Sh266, a reduction of Sh106; Kisii got Sh246, a drop of Sh95, and Nandi /Vihiga earned Sh208, a drop of Sh66.
KTDA blamed the dip in earnings to farmers this year on a strong Kenyan shilling against the US dollar and poor tea quality from certain regions. In 2024, the Kenyan shilling traded at an average of Sh144 to the US dollar, while in 2025 the average was Sh129. This weaker exchange rate meant that even where international prices were stable, the amount realised in Kenyan Shillings was significantly lower.
Kenya has kicked off an initiative to curb a relentless dip in earnings by diversifying into niche varieties of speciality tea, such as purple and white tea, as oversupply of the traditional black tea and the effects of variable weather conditions have taken a toll.
The speciality teas fetch premium returns for farmers amid growing demand for their health benefits.
