The Director General of the Tanzania Tea Board, Beatrice Banzi, has called for stronger commitments between investors and smallholder farmers, along with greater focus on adding value to tea products and using clean energy in production. Banzi made the remarks during a meeting in Kigoma with the Executive Director of the Tanzania Tea Growers Association, Jones Sikira, and representatives of Udongo Company, who presented findings from a soil health study conducted by the Tanzania Tea Research Institute on tea farms in Lushoto and Muheza districts.
Banzi encouraged producers to expand their range of tea products to include specialty tea and green tea, and to adopt modern technologies and alternative energy sources to cut dependence on firewood. Two tea factories, Herkulu and Marvella, which were formerly operated by Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, are expected to restart production following installation of new tea-processing machinery.
The Udongo Company representatives said they would follow directives from the Tanzania Tea Board and take steps to support development of the sector. The investment is expected to create jobs, expand the market for tea leaves from smallholder farmers and drive economic development in surrounding areas.