How tea farmers benefit from outgrowers project

A small scale tea farmer from Ikwega village in Mufindi, Mr Josephat Msakwa, opens the door of a car he bought after selling tea. PHOTO|THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT

What you need to know:

Unilever Tea Tanzania Limited (UTT), in partnership with The Netherlands’ Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), rolled out a project that is known as Mufindi Out-Growers (MOG) in 2014 with the aim of boosting small-scale farmers’ tea production across areas surrounding UTT.

Iringa. Incomes of tea farmers in Mufindi have improved by about 56 per cent during the past four years, thanks to an outgrowers’ project around the area.

Unilever Tea Tanzania Limited (UTT), in partnership with The Netherlands’ Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), rolled out a project that is known as Mufindi Out-Growers (MOG) in 2014 with the aim of boosting small-scale farmers’ tea production across areas surrounding UTT.

And, so far, the farmers say the project has had profound outcomes on their earnings, raising their average income by 56 per cent. Their tea yields have also gone up by an average of 196 per cent in just four years.

During the past four years of the project, some small-scale farmers have even bought vehicles using proceeds from tea sales.

The training that comes with the project has enabled majority of the farmers in Mufindi to diversify their operations, venturing into various income-generating activities.

This makes it easy for them to attend to all of their pressing needs including paying school fees and eating balanced diets.

“I started growing tea in 2002….I had two acres and nothing really seemed to be moving until the MOG project started in 2014…Within these four years, I have managed to increase the size of the farm to 17 acres and I hope to increase further to 21 acres next year. With rising tea prices, my income has gone up tremendously,” said Ms Shida Mahenge of Ikwega Village.

With the money from tea sales, Ms Mahenge has shifted her children from a public school to an English medium school.

Ms Shida belongs to a group of 90 small-scale farmers of Ikwega village in Mufindi who have different stories to tell regarding how their economic fortunes have changed since the start of the project.

Her fellow, Mr Josephat Msakwa, from Ikwega village echoed similar sentiments. Having bought a car, Toyota Noah, from tea proceeds, he harbours hope of a brighter future.

According to the MOG manager, Mr Abdallah Hamad, the project, supervised by 13 different people within the company, aims at raising the financial status of Mufindi small scale farmers.

“We started with a few farmers, but since then, the number has risen to about 1,400,” he said.

The MOG project currently covers an area of 1,142 hectares, across 19 villages that surround UTT’s tea estates in Mufindi, all established between 2014 and 2016.

How MOG works

The MOG works in a contract farming model whereby the company makes available all the necessary inputs (seedlings, fertilisers, herbicides) to farmers at zero-interest loans.

The farmers also enjoy services of extension officers who are on UTT’s payroll, but on condition that they (the farmers) will sell their produce to the company.

The company also trains farmers’ groups through what they term as Mashamba Darasa (demonstration farms) where the main topic of discussion is how to improve tea production.

“Seventy five per cent of our discussion is about boosting tea production and the remaining percentage is to train them on how to diversify their income sources,” said Mr Hamad.

The increase in earnings is based primarily on the fact that, with the MOG, farmers, are now able to harvest tea leaves twice in a month, contrary to those days when they could do so only once.

UTT has also initiated a special bonus whereby it awards farmers basing on the quality of their tea leaves.

“In this case, one farmer gets Sh150 more per kilogramme for the best tea leaves they sell to us,” he said, noting that the prize varies in accordance with tea quality and that the lowest amount that one gets in the process is Sh75 per kilogramme.