The rolling tea-covered hillsides of Kenya's densely populated central highlands and Rift Valley counties are as much a national symbol as they are the backdrop of a political struggle for votes and resources. Kenya's estimated 700,000 tea farmers are an important constituency and possess a great deal of financial clout: tea accounts for 4% of the country's GDP and 26% of export earnings, making it the country's largest foreign exchange earner ($1.2bn in 2020). 

A political brew