Market Country Information Focus helps feed neighboring countries . Kenya is Africa ' s leading tea producer , and was fourth in the world in 1999 , behind India , China , and Sri Lanka . B l a c k t e a i s Ke n y a ' s l e a d i n g agricultural foreign exchange earner . Production in 1999 reached 220,000 tons . Tea exports were valued at $ 404.1 million in 2001 , or nearly 18 % of total exports . The tea industry is divided between small farms and large estates . The small-scale sector , with more than 260 , 000 farmers , is controlled by the parastatal Kenya Tea Development Authority . The estates , c o n s i s t i n g o f 6 0 – 7 5 p r i v a t e companies , operate on their own .
Agriculture in Kenya
Coffee is Kenya ' s third leading foreign exchange earner , after tourism and tea . In 2001 , coffee earnings totaled $ 91.8 million . Production in 2001 / 02 amounted to 52,140 tons . Similar to the tea sector , coffee is produced on many small farms and a few large estates . All coffee is marketed through the parastatal Coffee Board of Kenya . The suspension of the e c o n o m i c p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e International Coffee Agreement in J u l y 1 9 8 9 d i s r u p t e d m a r k e t s temporarily , driving coffee prices to historical lows . Kenyan horticulture has become prominent in recent years , and is now the third leading agricultural export , following tea and coffee . Fresh produce a c c o u n t e d f o r a b o u t 3 0 % o f horticutural exports , and included green beans , onions , cabbages , snow peas , avocados , mangoes , and passion fruit . Flowers exported include roses , carnations , statice , astromeria , and lilies . Kenya is the world ' s largest producer and exporter of pyrethrum , a flower that contains a substance used in pesticides . The pyrethrum extract , known as pyrethrin , is derived from the flower ' s petals . A drop in production during the mid-1990s was due to increasing production costs , disease damage , and slow payment by the parastatal Pyrethrum Board of Kenya . The growing demand for " organic " and " natural " pesticides has increased international demand for pyrethrin , despite the existence of synthetic chemical substitutes . Kenya also produces sisal , tobacco , and bixa annatto ( a natural food coloring agent ) for export . Other important crops in 1999 were sugarcane , 5,200,000 tons ; corn , 2,110,000 tons ; wheat , 135,000 tons ; rice , 40,000 tons ; and cotton , 5,000 tons . Smallholders grow most of the corn and also produce significant quantities of potatoes , beans , peas , sorghum , sweet potatoes , cassava , bananas , and oilseeds .
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