STiR coffee and tea magazine

STiR coffee and tea 45 New Year's Gift, the enduring monument of Zimbabwean kept that name since 1924, but is now a mixed operation. In ad- dition to tea, coffee, and macadamia are now being grown there, while a head of about 300 cattle and wildlife such as vervet mon- keys, baboons and blue duiker roam around. According to Tanganda's 2020 financials, tea production was 9,188 tonnes in that year, 10% over the prior year harvest of 8,319 tonnes. Its yield per hectare is around four tonnes, one of the highest globally, according to Nemaire. "We beat the world in that as well," he said referring to the efficiency of the company's tea production. Ariston, which produced 2,582 tonnes in 2020, down from 2,985 tonnes in 2019, is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. Meikles Limited, Tanganda's parent company, an- nounced in July last year a plan to unbundle the tea unit and get it separately listed on the same bourse. According to MarketResearch.com, a US market intelligence entity, Zimbabwe's tea market, calculated in retail prices, was equal to US$201 million in 2015 but is poised to grow. "Until 2025, the tea market in Zimbabwe will reach US$275.56 million, thus increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.42% per annum for the period 2020-2025. This is an increase, compared to the growth of about 1.39% per year, registered in 2015-2019," it said. "The average consumption per capita in value terms reached US$13.05 per capita [in retail prices] in 2015. In the next five years, it declined at a CAGR of -0.93% per annum. In the me- dium term [by 2025], the indicator is forecast to increase at a CAGR of 2.26% per annum." Zimbabwe, Africa's eighth biggest growing nation behind Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Rwanda mainly grows Debra Par, SF150, SF108, and SF 11 varieties. "The SFs are on demand globally," said Misheck Dem- baremba, a farmer. "We put cuttings in pots and they shoot there. They stay in the nursery for 18 months after which we plant them in the open field. Picking is normally at four to five years but if the crop is handled well a farmer can start picking at three to four years. With Debra Par, we do cuttings as well. That tea type does not shoot in winter. It is a good type for the farmer because it is heavy so it is easier to have a bigger tonnage than other teas if someone grows it." The country picks 18,000-19,000 tonnes of tea yearly. Of that yield, about 4,000 tonnes is consumed locally and the larger proportion of bulk leaves goes to the UK, South Africa, the US, and other markets. "Our tea has a body, which means it has a strong taste whereas that which is farmed elsewhere tends to taste watery," said Nemaire. "Because of its strong taste, local tea is much sought-after in many countries for blending with teas of differ- ent quality from other regions. Kenya, because of its volcanic soils is good as well. So yes, the biggest selling point of our tea is that it has a body." While the local beverage is produced mainly by Tanganda, Ariston, and EHPL, small-scale producers working as out- growers continue to play a role since the history-making delivery to EHPL by four farmers in March 1964. However, because of low producer prices and unreliable rainfall their deliveries and viability declined in recent years. For example, in 2004 they picked five tonnes, one of the big- gest harvests in history. Thereafter, output dramatically fell: only 1.8 tonnes in 2017 and 2018 and 1.2 tonnes in 2019, according to official figures. The number of out-growers fell as well, said Charles San- hanga, national chairman for the tea commodity association in the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union, the country's largest growers association with more than one million members. In Honde Valley, in Nyanga north of Tanganda, there were 1,200 farmers growing tea in 2004 but only 500-600 grow the crop now. "Farmers are just in it because tea is a perennial crop which can be harvested multiple times," Sanhanga told STiR. "Were it not for that, they would have dropped tea and focused on alternatives like macadamia, bananas, and others that pay better. In fact, farmers now grow other crops, not just tea. Prices are too low and farmers don't have a say on how they are arrived at. The company just imposes. Last year, we were paid Z$9.03/kg (approximately US$0.025 but the same tea is retailing at US$1.00 for a packet weighing 62.6 grams. Farmers say if they get support to acquire small processing plants, the potential is high that they can be competitive again. They will be able to pack and distribute their tea, instead of sell- ing it for almost nothing to companies that go on to make much money out of it. India and China produce processing plants suit- able for small farmers working as consortia of 5-10 farmers. One unit costs US$20,000. "But with the money we are being paid for tea, it is impossible that we can raise that sum," said Sahanga. Teafields in Zimbabwe.

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