Battered by Falling Prices, Kenya's Tea Farmers Threaten to Uproot

Emerald-colored tea bushes blanketing the rolling hills of Nandi County have long provided a livelihood for small-scale farmers, helping make Kenya one of the world's biggest tea exporters. But ideal weather and bigger harvests, instead of producing bumper earnings, have led to a glut of Kenya's specialty black tea. Samuel Busienei, a 72-year-old tea farmer, says he earns 40 percent less for each kilogram of tea sold than he did three years ago and is considering tearing up his crop. Busienei, who first planted the crop in the 1980s, said, "It was a very good life. But if the price doesn't change, we will have to remove the tea." http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/worldNews/~3/2K8elbT8KHg/story01.htm http://www.wochit.com