Uganda’s 2008 tea exports hit by bad weather

Uganda’s tea exports are projected to drop by about 30 per cent this year compared with the previous year due to bad weather, a top official of the tea producers body has revealed.

The acting executive director of the Uganda Tea Association (UTA), George William Ssekitoleko, said that gong by export figures so far received up to the end of September this year’s performance will be below that of the previous year.

By September 30, he said, a total of 28,181 tonnes of tea were exported compared with 28,898 tonnes during the same period last year.

Mr Ssekitoleko said his association had predicted a total output for 2008 of 46,000 tonnes. But this will not be attained due to drought in most of the tea growing regions.

In 2007, a total of 44,912 tonnes of tea was, produced out of which 43,636 tonnes were exported.

Uganda’s tea exports shot up from 30,400 tonnes in 2002 to 36,669 tonnes the following year and 36,874 tonnes in 2004. They dropped n 2005 to 36,532 tonnes and rose slightly to 30,584 tonnes before jumping to 43,636 tonnes in 2007.

In the 1980s, tea was the third highest foreign exchange earner, after coffee and cotton.

It has since been overtaken by non-traditional exports such as maize, fish and fish products.

Tea exports by value rose from $31.3 million in 2002 to $38.3 million in 2003.

This figure dropped to $37.2 million and in 2004 $34.2 million in 2005 before shooting up to $50.8 million in 2006.

The Uganda Tea Association has 13 active member factories that export their tea through the Mombasa tea auction.

However, there are five tea factories which are not members of the association because their tea is not of exportable quality.

The tea produced by these factories is sold locally and other quantities sold in neighbouring countries.

About 5 per cent of Uganda’s exported tea is sold under the Fair trade system where smallholder farmers are paid a premium price by consumers abroad.

Some members of the association are also planning to venture into organic tea production. Such teas fetch an extra 30 per cent in price. However, the higher price is offset by low yields as a result of not using artificial fertilisers.