Burundi tea earnings up 36 pct in Q1 2009

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi's tea export earnings rose 36 percent in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period in the previous year, helped by higher output, the tea board said on Thursday.

The state-run tea board (OTB) said earnings were $3 million up from the $2.2 million in the same period in 2008.

A total 1,509 tonnes were sold in the first quarter versus 1,017 tonnes in the same period last year.

"Burundi exported a great quantity of tea in the three past months. This explains the growth in terms of earnings," said OTB in its report.

Tea is Burundi's second foreign exchange earner after coffee and employs some 300,000 smallholder farmers in the central African nation of 8 million people.

The country exports 80 percent of tea through the Kenyan port city of Mombasa at a weekly auction.

The tiny producer expects tea production to reach 7,500 tonnes in 2009, up from 7,000 tonnes last year, partly due to the increased use of fertilizers on tea farms.

OTB projects 2009 export earnings at $11.4 million. The tea board collected $13.7 million in 2008 from both domestic and export sales.