GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

  Tea is a tropical plant with the botanical name Camellia Sinesis. First introduced in Limuru in 1903. Tea types a) Aswan variety common in India and Sri Lanka. b) Chinese variety. Kenya is the largest producer in Africa , among the top 6 world producers, and has the best tea in the world market. Major tea Growing Areas in Kenya W. Highlands – Kericho, Nandi, Kakamega, Cherangani hills. E. Highlands – Nyeri, Murang`a, Kiambu, Thika, etc. Significance of Tea Farming in Kenya Earns foreign exchange from tea export . Saves some foreign exchange that would be used to import tea. Farmers earn an income that raises their standard of living. It creates employment such as for people working in farms and factories. This has led to the development of industries such as processing factories, blending and packaging industries. It has led to the development of infrastructure by roads being improved to ease transportation of tea to factories.. RELATED POSTS COMPARISON BETWEEN FISHING IN KENY...

  Pests which destroy large parts of farms leading to losses e.g. termites. Diseases which lead to poor quality output such as coffee wilt disease and coffee berry disease. Limited land for coffee plantations due to ever increasing population. Soil exhaustion due to monoculture leading to low and poor quality yields. Competition with other coffee producing countries like Brazil and Ivory Coast leading to inadequate market. Low prices and unstable coffee prices leading to price fluctuation on the world market which demoralizes the farmers. Prolonged drought and hailstorms which destroy coffee flowers leading to low output. Competition with other beverages e.g. tea, cocoa and vanilla which reduces demand. Dangerous animals e.g. snakes, wasps and bees which attack the workers hence scaring them away. Inadequate storage facilities which leads to losses due to rotting of the coffee and destruction by pests. Coffee has a long gestation period of about 3 1 / 2 years until the first ha...

  In Kenya coffee is grown in at least seven of the eight provinces. The only region where coffee is not grown is the northeastern province because it is too dry for the crop. In Kenya, the main type of coffee grown is Arabika.small amount of Robusta coffee is grown in western Kenya but the output is insignificant. The following are problems facing coffee farming in Kenya Poor soils ; in many areas where coffee is grown, the soil is exhausted and smallholders can not afford the fertilizers required to reinstate the soil back to the required fertility level. Coffee uses a lot of nutrients which need to be replenished regularly Adverse weather condition ; there are times when rainfall is unreliable and drought condition set in causing berries to ripen prematurely and falling off hence causing loss to farmers Shortage of capital ; farmers usually have a problem of capital to improve their farms and even improve farm infrastructure. Coffee farming requires heavy capital investment in t...