Nairobi, May 9 -- The introduction of a 0.8 per cent levy on Kenyan export tea will hit farmers, which will result in low income as buyers at the Mombasa tea auction shift to produce from neighbouring countries.

This week, tea dealers opted for Rwanda and Burundi tea as opposed to that from East and West of the Rift with Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which handles more than 60 per cent of tea traded in the auction, paying more than Sh450,000 in a week as a levy.

On May 1 2026, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) began collecting 0.8 percent upfront export levy on tea shipments on behalf of the Tea Board of Kenya, a levy which has made Kenyan tea most expensive in the auction.

The levy, which is applicable to only to Kenyan tea, ha...