Mabale Growers Tea Factory is located at an altitude of around 1,500 metres on the lower slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains near Fort Portal in the west of Uganda, the country’s main tea growing area. It incorporates a tea processing factory and two tea estates that were previously owned and operated by the state but were abandoned during the chaos of the Amin regime and its aftermath in the 1970s and 1980s. They have since been renovated, rehabilitated and privatised under the government Smallholder Tea Programme which is designed to improve rural incomes by giving subsistence farmers the opportunity to grow and sell tea as a cash crop.

The ownership of Mabale was passed to an association of 1,000 shareholders, 80% of which are small-scale tea growers and subsistence farmers with less than two hectares who supply the factory with their freshly picked green leaf tea. Their farms are located up to 30km from the factory and they depend on tea for 50-60% of their cash income.

Apart from small volumes of Fairtrade and local sales, most of the made (processed) tea is sold to international buyers via the Mombasa auction.

Irene Kijara

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Irene, age 31, has three children, Cyrus, 5, Esther, 8, and Susan, 11. She is a teacher by profession and is also a successful local businesswoman. She is a larger-scale farmer than the average Mabale shareholder, running the family’s two tea farms which are six and seven hectares in size. They provide 50% of Irene’s cash income and provide employment for 15 workers who pick tea, carry out weeding and apply fertiliser and herbicides six days a week, from Monday to Saturday.

Irene has a small dairy business, keeping 60 cattle for their milk and selling on male calves. She also runs a store in her village trading centre which opens once a week for farm workers to buy their provisions for the week.

Mabale Tea Factory

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Being a shareholder in the tea factory has a number of benefits for Irene and the other members. The purpose of the enterprise is to promote its members’ businesses. This includes ensuring the quality and consistency of the tea it produces in order to expand the market for its tea, increase members’ incomes and, in the longer-term, give more local farmers the opportunity to join.

A major benefit for registered suppliers are the contracts in which the factory agrees to purchase and collect their tea each day, providing it meets quality standards. Non-members have to carry their tea to collection sheds ready to be bought by other tea estates but can never be sure from one day to the next if they will have a buyer.

Twice a year Mabale also provides expensive inputs like fertiliser and herbicides and equipment such as plucking capes to protect farmers during the wet season. Their cost is subsidised and they are made available on credit.

Fairtrade Benefits

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Irene puts her business experience to good use as treasurer of the Mabale Factory Joint Body, a committee of elected farmers and factory workers plus representatives of the management. Their function is to consult with members and workers to decide which projects to fund with the Fairtrade premium, an additional sum of €0.50 a kilo paid by Fairtrade buyers that is reserved for social and community development.

Irene says of her work on the committee: ‘I enjoy serving other people and looking after the funds. The rules are rigid and clear so no-one can deceive me – because I am a woman and I am clever!’

She is not entirely joking and develops this theme: ‘Men do not look after their farms. But mine is one of the best around and I am proud of the work I do on my farm. I am here as a representative of the women farmers who elected me. Other women have seen what I do. They are starting to look after their farms and realise they too can be strong and independent of men. Working for the committee has helped me to do this.’

Irene is enthusiastic about Fairtrade even though it represents a small percentage of total sales: ‘Fairtrade is a very good benefit to us. It has helped us by building roads, schools, leaf collection sheds, and a clinic at the factory. And field extension officers trained by FLO¹ have helped us improve the quality of our tea.’

[ ¹ ] Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International, the umbrella organization for Labelling Initiatives (including the Fairtrade Foundation) and Fairtrade Certified Producer Organizations

Future Plans

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Irene says the Joint Body is full of ideas for future Fairtrade funded projects. It plans to complete the construction of a primary school which the government has left unfinished. It’s not much more than a shell – no floors, doors or windows. The children sit on the dirt floor where they are prone to contracting jiggers, a tropical flea that burrows into the skin of its host.

Repairing pot-holed or washed away roads and building new roads are ongoing priorities. They not only make it easier for farmers to transport their tea to collection sheds or get their other crops to market, but also help everyone in the community get on with their day-to-day activities.

Villagers rely on community wells for their water. They can become contaminated by dead rats or other animals falling into them so protecting them with concrete covers is high on the list.

The workers at the tea factory are keen to build a social hall on land outside the factory where they can hold wedding parties and dances or just meet after work to watch TV or have a beer. They also suggested buying sports kits for local football and netball teams.

These projects will make a real difference to the Mabale tea growing community. ‘Thank you for your support,’ says Irene. ‘We hope we will sell more tea to fund these projects. We have the best teas!’

Look for the FAIRTRADE Mark on products. It’s your guarantee that disavantaged farmers and workers in the developing world are getting a better deal.