Kenya's tea exports hit 44.28 million kilograms in March, according to the country's agriculture sector regulator, attributed to the onset of the long rains season.

Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) that the East African country had shipped its tea to 46 destinations compared to 43 markets in March 2019.

"Pakistan was the leading export destination for Kenyan tea, having imported 14.27 million kilograms, accounting for 32 percent of the total export volume," AFA said.

AFA Acting Director-General Anthony Muriithi said the start of the long rains resulted in high precipitation with some sunny intervals experienced across tea growing areas in the west and south rift regions, factors attributed to the high yield.

Tea is Kenya's second leading foreign exchange earner after horticulture. Tea exports hit about 113.6 billion shillings (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, according to an annual economic survey published by the government last week.

The agriculture authority noted that other key export destinations for Kenyan tea included Egypt, the U.K., Russia, and Poland.

According to Muriithi, the high exports witnessed came a little as a surprise as the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.K., U.S. and Italy that have been devastated by the effects of COVID-19 recorded an increase of 8 per cent, 102 per cent and 100 per cent after importing 4.1 million kilogrammes, 460,000 kilos and 4,600 kilos respectively during the review period.

(With input from KBC)