To strengthen the Kenya tea value chain while ensuring low carbon emissions throughout the tea value chain, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA) and other stakeholders have been implementing the Global Low Carbon Tea – (GLI-TEA Kenya) Triangular Cooperation in Tea Value Chain in Kenya project with funding from Germany and China
In line with the project objectives FAO in Kenya organized a capacity building workshop to develop the capacities of KTDA factory managers, zonal quality assurance managers, regional engineers and regional accountants on low carbon tea production manuals as well as review the workplan for roll-out trainings across factory units.
The project has developed a capacity strengthening strategy which focuses on six priority capacity gaps that, when addressed, are hypothesized to have impact on achievement of low carbon tea value chain in KTDA factories.
The key strategic objectives linked to these gaps are: Enhancing the uptake of climate-smart tea varieties; Improving soil management and fertilization; Optimizing transport and logistics; Accelerating green energy innovations; Improving extension services and establishing sustainable coordination structures.
The workshop brought together 70 KTDA officers from the East of Rift Valley catchment including managers from Nairobi office. This brings the total number of KTDA officers trained on low carbon tea production to 115 across the East and west of Rift Valley. The initiative, funded and supported by GIZ and Embassy of China aims to build the capacity of the factory managers towards an overarching goal of strengthening Kenya’s tea value chain to support rural livelihoods and contribute to climate action. The expected project outcomes are a more productive, efficient and low-carbon tea value chain realized and an enabling environment for low carbon tea value chain enhanced.
Being a country-driven approach, this pioneering project envisions implementing innovative solutions for sustainable production that could lead to lower carbon footprints of tea production, ultimately moving towards carbon-neutrality.
Along with international partners, FAO addresses climate change and builds a more sustainable tea value chain, incorporating the carbon neutral tea production methodologies developed by the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA) and Tea Research Institute (TRI) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the experience of the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) in energy efficiency interventions in Kenya tea sector.
