Thousands of tea workers in Kenya could be sent home this month because of a persistent dry spell that has left factories running at excess capacity.

The spell that started in November 2016 has seen tea factories in Nandi, Kericho, Bomet and Narok, in the highlands along the Great Rift Valley, reduce the leaf processing from six days in a week to four.

The factories employ about 75,000 tea pickers and there are fears half of them could be declared redundant until growing conditions improve.

The last time a severe drought struck the area in 2011 and 2012, leaf processing was reduced to three days and 27,000 workers were sent home.

Union leaders are already asking the factories not to use the drought as an excuse to lay off staff. The Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union (KPAWU) western Kenya Region secretary Mr Joshua Oyuga said tea workers should consult the union before any lay off.

“Multinational tea companies should keep off from sacking workers because dry seasons are natural calamities,” Mr Oyuga said.

Kenya’s Agriculture minister Willy Bett said tea production was expected to fall because of the drought. Last year, tea production recorded a significant rise to 473 million kilogrammes from 399 million kilogrammes in 2015.

The long rains season was expected towards the end of last month but has failed.

Kenya exported 422 million kilogrammes of tea in 2016, as compared to 445 million kilogrammes in 2015, earning Ksh133 billion ($1.33 billion) in foreign exchange.

More than 660,000 farmers who sell their crop through the Kenya Tea Development Agency earned an average of Ksh39 ($0.39) per kilogramme.

Besides drought, tea companies fear the high cost of production in Kenya could force them to shut down as happened in South Africa.