The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Business Reporter
TEA growers in Honde Valley are set to benefit from a US$15 million fund from Engineers Without Borders for the construction of drying facilities and other infrastructure to be used in the production of white tea.
Honde Valley Tea Growers Association members will gain from the facility and will also receive training on how the tea is produced.
White tea is one of the most delicate tea varieties, which is minimally processed, unlike the normal tea currently being produced in Zimbabwe. White tea is harvested before the tea plant’s leaves open fully, when the young buds are still covered by fine white hairs, hence the name “white” tea.
Speaking to Post Business this week, Zimbabwe Farmers Union district co-ordinator and a member of the association, Mr Misheck Dembaremba said the facility was meant to fund projects in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone.
“Engineers Without Borders (EWB) approached us through their partners and expressed interest in financing the production of white tea by small scale farmers.
“They want to put up structures for drying the tea, solar panels to power the facilities and the packaging materials. The project will focus on the drying and processing of the tea as well as the marketing. They will also construct a coldroom for other crops we produce like tomatoes,” he said.
He said the project should have stalled owing to the current price fluctuations being experienced in the economy.
Mr Dembaremba said white tea takes more effort than the normal tea because the process of harvesting needs care hence it is done manually instead of using plucking machines.
The tea however fetches considerably more money on the market.
“We are saying 1kg of the premium tea pays 10 pounds (US$12.94), which is a lot of money considering that we are selling our normal tea for only $0,60 here in Zimbabwe. But for a farmer to get even 10kgs is very difficult so we will need to work together to achieve greater yields,” he said.
He said EWB will also link the farmers with buyers in overseas markets and will continue with capacity building until such a time that the farmers can stand on their own.
“They want to train Zimbabwean farmers on how to produce the white tea, its benefits and how we can ensure product quality. The training will be done in Kenya so we will have some of our farmers travelling to Kenya before the end of the year. However, some of our farmers do not have passports so they are facilitating travel documents for them,” said Mr Dembaremba.
The Association has one farmer who had already ventured into white tea production and he is helping others who have shown interest.
