Rwanda’s tea export revenue and volumes have gone up. According to the National Agricultural Export Board (NAEB), tea export receipts increased to $5.16m (about Rwf3.6b) in April, up from $5.09m (about Rwf3.4b) in March, a 1.4 per cent increase. Over 2,184 tonnes of tea were exported during the month compared to 2,004 tonnes in March.

Jean Damascene Gasarabwe, the head of the tea division at NAEB, attributed the increase in production and revenue to good weather and application of modern farming methods like fertiliser use; and better prices on the global market.

During the month, the average price per kilogramme of tea stood at $2.36 (about Rwf1,580), up from $2.3 (about Rwf1,540) the previous month.

Gasarabwe was optimistic the upward trend, in volumes and revenue, would continue in the coming months, noting that they expect the sector to perform better than last year. 

Most of Rwanda’s tea is bought by Pakistan, Sudan, Russia, Egypt, Nigeria, the UK, Ireland, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. The tea sector consists of 11 factories and six tea projects with an average annual production of 23,000 metric tonnes of dry tea.

Most of the tea (60 per cent) is sold at the Mombasa auction.Individual buyers account for 37 per cent, while 3 per cent of the tea is sold locally. 

The tea sector employs over 50,000 people directly or indirectly. 

The country grows mostly Arabica coffee. 

Earnings from the crop were Rwf55.2b last year compared to Rwf65.7b in 2012 due to  the prolonged dry spell that affected production, as well as poor tea prices on the global market.