Dry weather hits Kenyan tea production

Kenya's tea production fell in October 2004 compared to the same month the previous year, undermined by dry weather in key growing areas, the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) said on Thursday. Kenya produced 27,423,830 kg of tea in October versus 31,597,015 kg of tea produced in October 2003,the board said. "It was the fourth month in a row that tea production suffered a decline owing to dry weather over most of the tea growing regions," TBK said in a statement.
However, in the first 10 months of this year, Kenya's tea output was higher than the same periods in the previous year, the board said.
Kenya, the world's second biggest exporter of black tea, produced 257.9 million kg of tea between January to October this year compared to 233.1 million kg produced in the same period in 2003, the board said.