What’s in the tea leaves?

Exports of tea and fresh flowers are key to Kenya’s economy – but can they ever be sustainable?

It’s 2023. Kenya’s population is headed for 60 million, with 100 people disputing each square kilometre of land. It’s not known when the next rain will fall, and exhausted soils mean meagre harvests.

This hard-hitting scenario is one of the tools that tea and flower multinational Finlays has used to plan for a sustainable future. It has committed to an ambitious set of goals to prepare for risks and to maximise opportunities over the next 15 years, by promoting environmental recovery and resilience, and becoming carbon neutral.

Finlays is one of the world’s largest tea-trading companies. It has been working in Kenya since the 1930s – taking advantage of the rainfall in Kericho, 2,000 metres above sea level in the Western Highlands – and now produces over 23 million kg of tea every year in Kenya alone, alongside 92 hectares of flower farms.

But if Finlays is to maintain this level of productivity in the future, it will have to face up to a series of challenges. Kenya is already experiencing water scarcity and struggling with social unrest caused by competition for resources and a growing number of ecological refugees. The Mau Forest used to be the country’s principal watershed, with flow throughout the year, but now there is only water when it rains, limiting the supply for irrigation and hydropower, not to mention drinking water.

“Our business model is particularly vulnerable,” admits Simon Large, Commercial Director of Finlays, “because of our extensive reliance on Kenyan resources – the people, land and water. The eco and social systems we work with are increasingly fragile.”

It was early in 2008, when social tensions escalated into a violent crisis, that Finlays commissioned Forum for the Future to help it develop a strategy with sustainability at its core.

The starting point was a set of compelling scenarios projecting the social, political and ecological challenges of today 15 years into the future. A ‘Walking the tightrope’ scenario envisaged a politically stable Kenya pursuing a free-market and enjoying high economic growth, but struggling to accommodate a mushrooming population with natural resources under ever-increasing strain. In another scenario, ‘Hanging on’, businesses were acting for short-term gain against a backdrop of tribal conflict.

“A company like Finlays can’t afford to underestimate the immediacy of climate change,” said James Goodman, Head of Futures at Forum for the Future, “but their commitment to sustainability was consistent throughout the company. We never felt that our advice was being taken less than seriously.”

Finlays has already begun its journey towards a net zero impact, minimising water waste and actively maintaining the health of the soil. They are also planning to strengthen relationships with the local community by creating more opportunities for employment and developing partnerships with smallholders. No one can foresee the company’s future, but, says Large, “sustainability is now an unchallenged part of it”. – Anna Simpson

5 June 2009

Anna Simpson