Analysis of Kenya's competitiveness among tea exporting countries

The Kenyan economy has for almost a century benefitted from the tea industry through creation of employment and foreign exchange earnings. In the recent past, the statistics show a decline in the contribution of tea towards the Kenyan economy with most explanations arising from numerous challenges the industry is facing among them being competition from the global industry. Kenya has continually relied on their traditional few market destinations for the export of tea creating an undesirable condition and has highly influenced trade negatively. The existence of government restrictions and controls such as customs, import tariffs, bureaucracy and investment barriers in the potential markets pose a challenge for market penetration and greatly impact on export. The paper assessed Kenya's competitiveness in the global tea market considering Kenya's tea production and export and a comparison with other competiting countries. The study evaluated the intensity of competition in the global tea industry and determined possible strategies and policies that Kenya should adopt in order to improve competitiveness in the global tea market. The observations in study are important to tea producers, sellers and the Government. The study will enable small-scale farmers and Nyayo Tea Zone to shape their current strategies in order to succeed in the increasingly competitive global tea market. Moreover, it will also enable policy makers to identify the areas where the Government should intervene and allocate resources with the intention of enabling domestic tea producers and tea sellers to succeed in the global tea market. Keywords: Kenya, Competitiveness, Tea, Export, Production