This smallholder programme is part of the Danish International Development Agency (Danida)-funded Rural Agriculture Revitalization Project (RARP), an initiative that seeks to facilitate the commercialisation of smallholder agriculture, promote increased household incomes, create employment and ensure food security.
Farmers throughout the valley have, over the past few years, increased farming production through new innovations and farming practices and are now enjoying the benefits of healthy bank balances and prosperity that was unknown to them before.
For farmers like Patrick Chikomba, who is also the chairman of HVSDC, tea production is vital. In a recent interview with The Zimbabwean he said; “This is our main cash crop. Tea has helped various smallholder farmers provide food and send their children to school.”
600 members
HVSDC has partnered with the Honde Valley Tea Growers Association (HVTGA) where tea growing has transformed the lives of communal farmers in the area. 600 active members of the association live scattered in small villages with 10 – 20 families in each. Every village represents a producer group within the association.
Through the International Tea Certifiers (ITC), smallholder farmers were assessed in April last year and passed the international standards set for sustainable agriculture network. A total of 514 out-growers were certified. This is the first time that local smallholder farmers have attained this prestigious certification.
The certification programme is part of the global campaign for sustainable agriculture network standards, which compel farmers to proactively address social and environmental challenges in farming as prerequisites to the global tea markets.
“The Sustainable Agriculture Network is a coalition of non-profit conservation organisations in America, Africa, Europe and Asia that promote environmental and social sustainability in agricultural activities through the development of standards for best practices, certification and training of rural farmers around the world,” said Chikomba, one of the certified farmers.
Drastic change
“Certification has brought a drastic change in the price of the green leaf. The certifiers have also helped us focus on the best health and environmental practices which has, in turn, lead to higher productivity by the farmers,” he added.
Female farmer Miriam Chawa spoke highly of the certification benefits and how it has opened markets.
“There was initial resistance from me and other farmers. We were reluctant to implement the certification standards because we found it senseless to have waste management pits, fire guards and the other things needed to meet all the environmental standards,” she said.
“However, we now appreciate the benefits of the system, especially the increased tea prices paid by international markets. I am now recognised and certified internationally and my tea is sold to countries like India, China, England, America and South Afric,” she said. “My life has changed. I am now able to care for my family and have all the basic requirements to live a good life.”
Other women who have benefited from the programme in the Honde Valley had their own stories to tell. Sheila Parege of Katiyo village said that women were included in the tea revolution. This was not the norm in most other development programmes in the area. Like many villagers in the area, Cyclone Eline had disrupted her farming activities after sweeping away her irrigation infrastructure in 1999 and she believed that she would never rise from the ashes of her loss.
On the rise
Today, she is a woman on the rise, thanks to her decision to join the tea-growing programme. “I am not educated, but today I am proud that I earn more from growing tea than some civil servants do. Neighbours envy me because my children all go to school. It is my hope that this project will be expanded so that other women can also participate in the tea farming production,” she said.
“I have been able to upgrade my house from the proceeds and have purchased a residential stand for $500 at Hauna business centre. This project is currently at foundation level,” she said.
Jane Mukupe of Murara Village in Honde Valley, the widowed mother of two adult children started growing tea on a commercial scale in 2011. Hers is probably the biggest success story. She started specialising in the crop after Eastern Highlands Tea Estate, the main buyer of the green leaf from the out-growers, contracted a marketing company for the scheme.
She is now earning an average income of $5,000 per year and has bought a residential stand for a 10-room house at Hauna Business Centre for $1,300 after building a 3-bedroomed house with a kitchen where she currently lives. This year, she expects her net income to reach $12,000.
After 2015, the global market will no longer buy non-certified tea as the biggest international tea buyers have committed themselves to tackling climate change by only buying products that come from sustainable farms. 2015 is the absolute deadline for tea growers to comply with internationally agreed sustainability standards. The certification ensures economic inclusion and access to global markets for smallholder farmers.
Post published in: Gender Equality