Bujumbura, July 28 - Burundi's tea export earnings rose 36 percent in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year on good quality, an official said on Friday.
The state-run Tea Board (OTB) said it had earned some $6.8 million from January to June after selling 3,171 tonnes of the crop compared to $5 million last year with 3,686 tonnes sold.
"The main reason for this good performance in terms of earnings is the improvement of the quality of our tea", chief of exports at OTB, Joseph Marc Ndahigeze, told Reuters. He added that the average price per kg rose to $2.15 from $1.36 in 2007.
The board projects tea export earnings to reach $13.5 million in 2008 compared with $9.2 million in 2007 due to upgraded processing machinery.
The OTB estimates output in 2008 at some 8,250 tonnes from 7,073 tonnes produced in the previous season, mainly due to good rains and the distribution of fertilizers to farmers.
Tea is the country's second-largest hard currency earner after coffee and employs some 300,000 smallholder farmers.
Burundi exports 80 percent of its tea to Kenya for sale at a weekly auction held in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.