Answer

The Geography of Tea

The commodity of interest of this assignment is tea. Tea is major component of drinking tea which is valued in several cultures globally since it is known to refresh the mind, the body as well as soothes the soul. It is derived from a plant Camellia sinensis L. Kuntze, which is cultivated in several countries in small scale farming while in few countries in large scale farming. Tea is produced in several countries; however, the major countries include China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, and Sri Lanka. As such it is mainly produced in Asia particularly, East Asia and some regions of Africa predominantly East Africa. According to the data the largest producers of tea is China, followed by India, then Indonesia, Kenya and lastly Sri Lanka. The plant grows in higher altitude that may ranges from 800m to 2000m. According to Jin, (2019), not all the tea types are the same. Each and every country produces tea that has got different taste and flavor and it is the reason why the consumers identify the type to import based on their needs. For example, Kenyan tea has a remarkable strong and spicy aroma, partly with a slight “lemon flavor”.

While there are several consumers of tea globally, the main countries that import majority of tea are Pakistan, Russia, and the United States at $550 million, 525$million, and $487 million respectively (FAOSTAT, 2020).  However, it is important to note that a significant amount of tea is also consumed domestically.  For example, in the year 2017, the amount of tea consumed in China, India, and Turkey were more than the amount of the tea consumed by major tea importers. Currently the growth of tea consumption is being driven by the rapid growth in per capita incomes, especially in most developing countries of Asia Pacific. According to the study conducted by Lei (2019), the increasing young urbanization segment that enters the middle class is ready to consume large amount of tea and also ready to pay for the premium prices. As such presently, Asia Pacific has the highest market for the consumption of tea with their robust economic growth.

The production and consumption of tea continues to change depending on the demand of the commodity. While the black tea has been domination the market, the increasing health benefits of green tea has made it to compete fairly with the black tea.  Basically, the major producers of tea are from East Africa which is Kenya. Tea is the main commodity that the county exports and forms one of the largest drivers of its economy hence at all cost the country works towards maximum export of this commodity. Another region that is a significant exporter of the commodity is East Asia. The fact that these regions lie in cool and wet places with an altitude of more than 1000 provides favorable weather conditions for the growth of the commodity.  The leading and potential consumer or importer include the United States and several countries in Asia pacific. According to the study conducted by Lei (2019) the green tea has got several health benefits that have been identified by several countries hence they are prepared to pay for the maximum prices. On the same note, Asia Pacific region is one of the paces that has got high economic growth hence they have the purchasing power of the commodity irrespective of the prices.

It is quite difficult to tell if the geographic patterns displayed by the trade of tea in these countries is determined by their economic characteristics. For example, Kenya, one of the leading countries that produces tea is a low-income state, India is a middle-income country while China and Sri Lanka are developed countries.  However, it is important to note that irrespective of the economic status of the country, tea form a significant part of their economies. For Kenya, tea is the major driver of the economy alongside other agricultural produce. For other countries such as China that has invested so much in industrialization it forms part of the economy but not the main factor that drives the economy. One of the factors that determine the production of the commodity is weather condition. In all the regions where tea grows, there is wet and cool weather and they lie on high altitudes. On the other hand, the pattern of consumption is highly associated with economic characteristic of the importing countries.  A study conducted by Das and Zirmire (2018), reveals that the commodity is mostly consumed in Asia Pacific, Russia, and the United States. These countries or regions are either developed or developing at a faster rate. As such, they have the purchasing powers and are ready to buy the commodity irrespective of the prices.

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