Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/641418
44 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 1, 2016 (February/March) Some of the farmers and are even registered with Fair Trade under the Sireet Outgrowers Empowerment and Producer Company Limited (SOEP), and funds received from the sale of the Fair Trade certified teas go back into the com- munity to pay for such requirements as a clean water supply, medical dispensaries, and accommodation for teachers. Satemwa's tea projects At Satemwa, a privately owned tea and coffee estate established in 1923 in the Shire Highlands by Maclean Kay, and today run by his grandson Alexander Cathcart Kay, 500 tons of green leaf is supplied every year by the Msuwadzi Small Holder Tea Growers Association. The Association started in 1998 in North Thyolo district and includes 198 male and female growers, who cultivate tea on five blocks of land. Jonas Makata, 77, is one of Satemwa's 198 independent small holder tea farmers. With this small holder grown leaf Satemwa created a new unique specialty tea variety: #418 Small Holder Black OP1. Makata not only gets a better price for his hand-plucked green leaf, he also shares in the profit when Satemwa sells the tea. On average they farm plots of one and a half acres (half a hectare) and grow mainly tea, some maize and small quantities of tomatoes. Satemwa is helping them to diversify into other crops such as mint, lemon verbena, and flowers such as hibiscus. In 2009 the smallholders obtained Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certification. Satemwa, also Fair Trade, rainforest and UTZ certified, helped the farmers through the process of acquiring the certifications and also funds an outgrower manager who works with the farmers on production and capacity building. The Satemwa estate also has a primary school with eight standards, 900 students, and 20 teachers, a crèche for working mothers, football and netball teams, and a clinic that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and has an ambulance, two nurses, a doctor and administration staff. The company offers 130 scholarships every year to students who wish to continue their education. Around 90% of the tea produced at Satemwa is black tea, but since 2005, it has also produced a range of top quality specialty white, green, oolong, black, and dark fermented tea (rather like loose Chinese Puer). The new crops of herbs and flow- ers grown by the smallholders are blend- ed with Satemwa specialty teas and sold into the local and regional market and in bulk to European wholesalers. One of the goals of the Satemwa- Msuwadzi partnership is to involve the growers in the value chain by enabling them to own their own branded tea lines and sell the teas through Satemwa's direct trade network. The smallholder's brand, YAMBA Tea, is processed, packed, and distributed at the Satemwa factory and then sold into the Malawian and Zambi- an market. For each pack of Yamba sold, Satemwa pays a royalty to the smallhold- ers, who own the brand and can decide after five years how to continue. Satemwa is also training the farmers to improve their plucking standards and, with bet- ter quality leaf, the company can make Medical care is free for mother and new baby at the Satemwa medical clinic Quality control staff monitors withering process