Time to tap from tea industry in Nigeria

As Nigeria continues to redefi ne her economy through agriculture, there are huge opportunities in the tea industry which is now a major global sector for nations that have the production potentials. FRIDAY AGBOSEINA writes

 

By July 6, 2017, the nation of Sri Lanka celebrated 150th years of her tea industry. It was a global event christened “Th e Global Ceylon Tea Party” which was held on same day in 37 countries where Sri Lanka had diplomatic missions in countries including Nigeria. It was an event, according to the Sri Lanka High Commissioner, Mr. T. Raveenthiran to set a world record as the largest global tea party and the longest celebration that lasted for 24 hours across the globe. Th e global pride of Sri Lanka is in the tea industry, where the country is famous for her beautiful tea estate with over 60% coming from small farm holders.

According to the High Commissioner, the industry provides employment for about 10% of the country’s population, and that the industry thrives by adhering to international conventions, agreements and certifi cations. Th e Sri Lanka’s black and Ceylon tea are being consumed in almost 150 countries making the country a major world exporter of tea for foreign exchange. Perhaps, Mr James Taylor who pioneered the commercial cultivation of Ceylon tea in 1867 has a good understanding that human race across all nations will massively consume tea such that it will be a global product.

Today, there is no home in the world that does not consume tea and other beverages particularly in meetings, events and ceremonies. Apparently there are lessons for Nigeria to learn from tea producing and exporting countries of the world now that Sri Lanka according to the High Commissioner is seeking for Nigerians to partner with companies in his country in the area of tea investment; asserting that Nigerians consumption in black tea “has shown some increase in recent years particularly in urban areas”. Unfortunately, the tea industry in Nigeria is dominated by few players despite the tremendous potentials.

It is a commodity of high value with extensive value addition capacity for economies of scale. Beside Sri Lanka, Kenya’s economy is driven by well structured tea market where export is done at the Mombasa Tea Auction Market. Th e country is the largest black tea exporter in Africa and the third largest in the world and sells most products to Egypt, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. Tea is said to contribute about 20% to Kenya’s export revenue in billions US dollars. Nigeria has opportunities to become a tea exporting country given the various crops that can be processed into tea and even beverages. Th e domestic market for tea is very high and the projection is that in the next three years, Nigeria’s tea consumption will increase by about 1,000 tons of coff ee. However, the average annual national production of tea at 1,640 tonnes can only meet 10% of domestic requirement. Th is implies that opportunities are there for domestic and foreign investors in Nigeria tea industry. Presently, tea cultivation is done in the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba state majorly by local farmers in over 6000 farm lands. Th e tea brand in the Mambilla is Highland Tea whose production dates back to 1999. Highland tea is the pride of Taraba State having been in comatose position for years; it was recently given fresh life by the state administration under Governor Darius Ishaku. According to Governor Darius, the steps taken by the administration is to encourage investors and make tea the next export commodity of the country. His administration supported the company with infrastructure by providing 400kw Hydro Power Plant for 24 hours electricity supply to the factory as well as the host community. Th ere are few players in Nigeria’s tea industry. Prominent among them is Unilever, famous for its branded Lipton classic tea, while in the beverages category, Cadbury is a strong player. Th ese are multinational corporations in the industry.

Indigenous players are yet to be noticeable, though there are few producers of moringa tea yet to signifi cantly hit the domestic and global markets. It is expedient that government promotes this vital sector of agriculture given the global trend in the tea industry as major source of employment and export revenues.

For instance, in more than 35 countries tea production is fast increasing and has double over the last 20 years rising from 2,525 million metric tons in 1995 to 5,305 million metric tons in 2015. Similarly, importation and consumption are growing in countries like US, China, India, and Turkey among others.

Perhaps, Governor Darius Ishaku has started well in looking at Taraba state economy both from the view point of comparative advantage and from events in the global tea industry. Other states with similar tea opportunities should do the same especially encouraging moringa tea production for export. Kenya Tea Industry: Africa’s number one tea exporting country

• Leading producer of black tea in the world ahead of China and India

• Th e largest exporter of tea in the world follow by Sri Lanka

• 26% of the country’s export earnings

• Kenya consumes only 5% of her production and sold 95% to the world

• Contributes 4% of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Products

• Production is rural-based

• Tea Research Foundation facilitates tea research in Kenya

• Kenya Tea Directorate manages the activities of tea industry

• Pakistan, Egpyt and United Kingdom import 65% of Kenya tea production

• 70 countries including importing Kenya’s tea

• Export through well developed Mombasa Tea Auction Centre

• Th e Centre is the second largest tea auction centres in the world after Sri Lanka Tea Auction Centre

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