at a glancen The $40 million project (about Rwf33.6 billion) affected about 234 families. The project will cover more than 4,000 hectares of land and seeks to boost green tea production and exports.

the National Agricultural Exports Board (NAEB) has started resettling over 200 families that were affected by ongoing Unilever Tea Rwanda Limited expansion project in Nyaruguru District.

While handing over 100 housing units yesterday Goerge William Kayonga, the NAEB chief executive officer, said about 234 families were relocated to pave way for the project. The government is funding the resettlement exercise through NAEB.

Last year, government signed an agreement with the firm to develop two large scale tea plantations in Kibeho and Munini sectors in Nyaruguru.

The $40 million project (about Rwf33.6 billion) will cover more than 4,000 hectares of land and seeks to boost green tea production, according to NAEB.

The project involves construction of a modern black tea processing factory, development of two new tea estates, as well as supporting tea outgrowers in Kibeho and Munini sectors to improve production and quality.

Kayonga said the project will increase tea exports by almost 15 per cent and create more than 2,000 jobs in the area.

Kayonga noted that farmer support has and will always be a critical component for the success of this project. This, he said, is essential to improve household incomes and livelihood of farmers. First production from the project is expected by 2020.

Rwanda’s tea production increased by 1.34 per cent during the first 11 months of 2016, according to NAEB.

Green leaf production rose to more than 69.9 kilogrammes in July 2016, up from over 67.7 million kilos over the same period in 2015. The average price jumped 10 per cent to $2.85 per kg last week at the Mombasa auction, from $2.48 per kilo.

Improving quality

To enhance the beverage quality and make the sector more competitive, NAEB drafted a new tea leaf handling model for the value chain.

The agricultural exports agency is also seeking new markets for the country’s tea to increase exports.

Market

Presently, the UK buys 21.46 per cent of Rwanda’s tea, with 21.16 per cent going to Pakistan, while Egypt takes 16 per cent and another 15.6 per cent is sold to Yemen. Somalia buys 10.6 per cent of the country’s tea exports.