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Alfred Njagi came all the way from Kenya to Missoula seeking the right kind of firewood for his tea.

That makes more sense when you know these three things: Kenya grows the world’s third greatest quantity of tea, after China and India. Montana has done groundbreaking work getting the most energy possible out of wood slash. And it takes a lot of heat to properly dry tea leaves before they go in those little bags.

“Every percent of efficiency we can find is a few more shillings in the farmers' pockets,” the general operations manager of the Kenya Tea Development Agency said during a visit to the University of Montana. “We’re here to study good practices, good sources and proper utilization so we can see what we can do better.”

Since Kenyans started concentrating on tea cultivation about 50 years ago, the crop now contributes 4 percent of the African nation’s gross domestic product. More than 600,000 small-scale farmers pool their production through the Kenya Tea Development Agency. Most of them work on a half-acre or less of ground.

Coincidentally, a growing number of them raise a purple-leaf variety imported by Lake Missoula Tea Co. in Missoula. Store owner Jake Kreilick said the emerging popularity of the tea’s antioxidant and other health benefits has made it a game-changer for him.