FORT PORTAL– Tea is Uganda’s third most important agricultural export earner after coffee and fish, but tea farmers say they need a policy to regulate the sector.
It is one of the commodities selected for the government strategic intervention programme for national development.
Tea has contributed approximately 3.6 percent of Uganda’s export earnings over the last five years and has the potential to contribute more to national income and employment.
Despite the good performance and its socio-economic importance, the tea subsector faces many challenges along the entire value chain.
Tea growers in the country say that in spite of the crop being a strategic cash crop as explained in the National Development Plan, there is no policy to regulate the sector.
Farmers claim that apart from giving out free seedlings, there is nothing much that has been achieved through government interventions to improve the tea sector.
For instance, Amon Mirika a tea grower in Kabarole, says the government has failed to establish a platform to address the concerns that affect the sector through the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
He says there is no policy framework that regulates the tea industry in Uganda, “every farmer is doing what he or she wishes.”
“Factories determine the price against the will of farmers. For that matter, you care less for the tea you produce, leading to poor quality and hence the poor price on the world market,” he observes.
He adds that due to lack of regulation, farmers always get poor farm gate prices as they are exploited by the buyers.
Grace Birungi, a tea farmer from Hoima, says have infiltrated the business, cutting off the direct link between the farmers and processors.
“Despite the fact that out-growers contribute 68 percent of the green leaf, they are never recognized by the processors” she adds.
Julius Mwebesa, a tea farmer from Kabale district, says currently they are facing problems of low prices from buyers who exploit them and fake fertilizers on the market.
He says their neighbors in Rwanda are doing well since they have policies that ensure good farm gate prices for tea.
“Currently, tea farmers sell a kilogram of green tea leaves at Shs 200 to Shs 500 while farmers in Rwanda sell the same kilogram between Shs 3000 to Shs 4000,” he says.
The manager Mabale tea factory in Kyenjojo district, Onesmas Matsiko says although the government under the Operation Wealth creation (OWC) programme doubled the tea acreage by supplying free tea seedlings, productivity is still very low.
He says that in Uganda a hectare of tea produces only 1,800Kgs annually against the expected 4,000Kgs with best practices.
“Uganda’s main challenge in the tea sector is lack of regulation, financing and poor fertilizer application,” he says.
Adding that, “with the tea policy, both growers and factories will have regulations to govern us so that we can equally benefit.”
He however says fertilizers are too expensive for farmers.
Draft tea policy
The National Tea Development policy was first drafted in 2005 by MAAIF to provide strategic direction for the Tea sub-sector production and productivity. In 2016, the ministry of Trade drafted a policy focusing on tea trade development.
In 2018, the then Prime minister directed both drafts to be consolidated in one framework called National Tea Policy. However, it has since never been passed by the Cabinet.
According to the Solidaridad project manager for tea in Uganda and Kenya, Alex Amanya, the ministries of agriculture, and Trade already drafted and sent tea policy to cabinet where it is shelved.
Amanya says Uganda has capacity to earn more money from tea than its neighbours do if the policy is put in place.
“Government has put in a lot of efforts to develop the tea sector but if it’s not regulated, all the efforts will be in vain. We therefore call upon Cabinet to pass the tea policy for the country to benefit from the industry,” he says.
Amanya says the tea policy yet to be passed by Cabinet looks at issues like; productivity at the farm level, prices and marketing, which he said, should benefit both farmers and the country at large.
About tea
Tea is one of the 12 prioritized commodities in Uganda’s Vision 2040 and is a strategic crop in the 3rd National Development Plan (NDPIII) covered under agro-industrialisation.
More than 68 percent of Ugandan tea acreage is owned by tea out-growers. Uganda has 32 processing tea factories, only five are owned by shareholder farmers.
The director of National Agricultural Advisory Services [NAADS], Dr. Samuel Mugasi, says Uganda currently produces over 80,000 metric tons of tea annually which is over and above the processing capacity of the 32 existing tea processing factories in the country.
“Since 2013, Government through NAADS under the Tea Industry Expansion Initiative has procured and distributed over 500 million tea seedlings to farmers resulting into increased production of green leaf”, explains Mugasi
Mugasi says there is need for increased investment in the national tea processing capacity, starting with the 19 factories that are still in the pipeline.
Tea has produced an average 3.6 percent of Uganda’s export earnings over the last five years and is recognised to have a higher potential to contribute more to national income, employment and environmental conservation.
Over the past 8 years, tea has been fetching an average earning of US$ 76 million for the country, though it earned US$ 93.879 in 2018.
Tea employs close to 80,000 farming households and supports 150,000 skilled and unskilled workers. About 1,000,000 people directly derive their livelihoods from tea growing.
Traditional tea-growing districts are; Mukono, Buikwe, Mubende, Mityana, Masaka in the central region, Kyenjojo, Kibale, Hoima, and Kabarole in the western region, Bushenyi, Buhweju, Kanungu, and Kabale in southwestern Uganda.
Recently, tea growing has expanded to new districts like; Kabale, Kisoro, Rubanda, Rukungiri, Sheema, Nebbi, Zombo, Isingiro, Ntungamo, Mitooma, Rubirizi, Kamwenge, and Mbarara.
Tooro sub region is the leading in production standing at 39 percent followed by Ankole at 29 percent, Kigezi at 12 percent, Buganda at 12 percent and Bunyoro at 9 percent.
https://thecooperator.news/tea-farmers-form-national-association/
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