Unilever and Government of Tanzania Sign Agreement on Sustainable Tea

3 Sep 2013 - Unilever and the Government of Tanzania have agreed to establish an ambitious partnership to reinvigorate the Tanzanian tea industry. The partnership aims to create 5,000 jobs linked to the Unilever Mufindi tea estates, develop 6,000 hectares of smallholder tea farms and thereby improve incomes and lives of approximately 30,000 people economically sustained by the smallholder farming.

Unilever Chief Supply Chain Officer, Pier Luigi Sigismondi, and Tanzanian Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, the Hon. Minister Christopher Chiza were present in Dodoma to agree the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) setting up the partnership.

The Hon. Christopher Chiza said: “This MoU symbolizes the determination of the Government of Tanzania to implement Kilimo Kwanza. We are committed to commercialise agriculture whilst creating income opportunities for smallholder farmers and properly manage our natural resources. As a government we are inviting investment partners under the SAGCOT initiative who are committed to our inclusive and sustainable investment principles. Unilever has aligned its investment strategy with the Tanzania Tea Industry Development Strategy and the Transformation of Smallholder Tea Sub-sector as championed by the Tanzania Smallholder Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA). This opportunity, will allow us to achieve our objective of commercialization of tea farming by smallholder growers through effective involvement in the tea value chain."

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, said: “Our vision is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our positive social impact. We firmly believe business must deliver more equitable and sustainable growth. However, to achieve large-scale change, real collaboration between companies, governments and NGOs is needed. The public and private partnership announced today aims to do just that. It is a great example of our Sustainable Living Plan in action. I am honoured to be able to work with partners such as the Tanzanian Government to help secure the future of the Tanzanian tea industry by promoting sustainable agriculture and improving the lives of small farmers in order to produce the high quality tea our consumers demand.”

The partnership is implemented in and supported by the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) as part of the Tanzanian Government Kilimo Kwanza (Transforming Agriculture) programme.

Unilever will work with the Government, the Tea Board of Tanzania and The Tanzania Smallholder Tea Development Agency, to improve the supply chain, yield and quality of tea, collaborating with other public and private players and donors as appropriate.

The partnership covers investment in the Unilever estates and supply chain, new factories and local infrastructure, research and development, support programmes for smallholder farmers and obtaining Rainforest Alliance certification so that all related tea production is sustainable.