Kigali- In the far southwest of Rwanda, near Nyungwe National Park, we enter one of the country’s most famous tea plantations to tell another success story in the “Land of a Thousand Hills.”
On these farms that extend over a large area of the Moaga-Jisakura company, women race against time to collect as much tea leaves as possible and then begin the manufacturing journey.
Leaf picking operations
Very quickly, the women picked the green leaves and placed them in a cane basket hung tightly on the back. When the baskets were full, the women emptied their produce into larger bags to be carried either to the nearby Gisakura factory to dry the leaves so they would become black tea beans, or to a traditional production line to turn them into green tea beans.
The women work 6 days a week and are paid by the Tea Farmers and Producers Cooperative according to the quantities of leaves they pick, and per kilogram, according to Masomboko Rick, a tour guide at the Ifomo Social Foundation.
These farms employ hundreds of women who carry out the task of picking tea, in addition to hundreds of others who undertake other tasks.
Green tea industry
From the middle of the farms, we headed towards a traditional manufacturing chain to get a closer look at a model of the green tea production process.
Here, the women place the green leaves inside a medium-sized wooden masher to begin a light mashing process using a long stick, followed by the stage of placing the product in environmentally friendly dishes for the purpose of drying it and later placing it in paper bags to display it for sale, according to what Masumbuko told Al Jazeera Net.
Inside a building belonging to the Ifomo Foundation, a few members of the organization provide a live experience to taste the types of Rwandan tea, between green tea, white tea, traditional third tea, and fourth organic tea.
Rwandan tea is considered one of the finest types on the African continent and the world and reaches many countries in Europe and other regions, explains one of the workers there.
What about black tea?
There, a few hundred meters away, looms the Gisakura factory, which undertakes the task of manufacturing black tea according to the degree of purity and quality to transport it to the Mombasa auction in Kenya, and from there to the world markets.
The Mombasa auction is the second largest center for selling the finest tea after the Colombo Center in Sri Lanka.
Green leaves undergo several manufacturing processes, starting from withering, wrapping, oxidizing, and drying.
The Gisakura factory aims to establish a sustainable tea industry that supports people, communities and the environment, as indicated by the factory data.
In this area near Nyungwe Park, there are 4 black tea factories, out of 19 factories in all parts of Rwanda owned by the private sector, and one factory can produce tens of tons on a daily basis during peak periods with rainfall.
Tea cultivation throughout the country
Not only does this region produce one of the finest types of tea in the world, but there are 23 cooperatives employing 50,000 people that sell their crops to 19 factories across various regions of Rwanda.
This rich drink entered Rwanda in the 1950s, becoming the most important agricultural commodity exported by the country, along with coffee.
What helps in the abundant production of tea is the presence of a tropical climate at an altitude of more than 1,600 metres, with significant rainfall, along with sunny days and acidic soil suitable for agriculture.
According to data from the Rwanda Development Council, the area cultivated with tea throughout the country is about 33 thousand hectares in the northern, western and southern provinces.
The country’s production of manufactured tea has increased from about 6,000 tons in the 1980s to more than 40,000 tons today.
65% of the processed tea leaves are provided by small farmers, while the remaining percentage comes from industrial clusters.
Tea generates significant sums of money to the country’s economy, amounting to approximately $115 million in 2023/2024 estimates.
97% of Rwandan tea is exported as a raw commodity through many companies, and the country seeks to develop agricultural, production and marketing processes through training, organizing the production market, and supporting partnerships between farmers and factory owners.
At the global level, tea production has grown by 26% over the past ten years, reaching about 6.6 million tons annually, according to data issued by the International Trade Center in London.
Tea prices in global markets are currently about $1.95 per kilogram, while prices would have reached $2.8 in 2022.
Agricultural tourism
The importance of these farms does not stop at producing and manufacturing tea, but rather extends beyond that to contributing to community development and supporting agricultural tourism, Anaclete Karangwa, Executive Director of the Ifomo Foundation, told Al Jazeera Net.
According to Karangwa, the Ifomo Foundation, as an important community partner, aims to promote community tourism, as an off-farm income-generating activity to improve the livelihoods of community members and enhance social and economic well-being.
The Foundation, Karango adds, organizes tourism and sports activities near the farms, such as hiking and cycling to have a unique experience surrounded by tea leaves.
Like Ifomo, there are other institutions playing similar roles in many regions to support green tourism throughout Rwanda.
We left the embrace of the tea plantations to continue on the road in search of a new Rwandan experience.
