Collaborating for an Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Tea Sector

There is a need for a transformational change in the tea sector. This can be achieved by boosting the small tea growers’ participation in the global tea value chain, and by empowering women and youth for improved food security and nutrition. The current value chain structure has not fostered an ecosystem of innovation for the emergence of sustainable tea production and processing technologies. This situation has exacerbated the prevalence of low productivity, particularly at the farm level, with poor quality tea leaves being produced which in turn dampens farm gate prices. In many cases, policies in tea producing and consuming countries have also contributed to the decline in tea productivity and quality.

The desired transformational change requires to start with a conducive governance structure for the tea sector. This involves collaborative efforts and partnerships at both national and global levels to address the economic, social and environmental challenges. However, in most cases, global governance issues, which govern the participation of smallholder tea producers, have not been given adequate attention. 

As a result, this subprogramme aims at three main objectives: 1) collaboration and partnership between the public and private actors and finding a common ground for a multistakeholder partnership in order to strengthen the tea value chain governance; 2) disseminate lessons learned from the FAO-China Carbon-neutral Tea project and FAO Global Low Carbon Tea (GLI-Programme) as one of the practical solutions to address the environmental sustainability dimension of the tea sector, and 3) share knowledge and best practices for an economically sustainable tea value chain at national and global levels. 

The subprogramme will also address the economic and sustainability issues facing the tea sector through four interrelated components:  

1. Identifying the governance challenges in the global tea value chain and relationship between value chain actors and institutional coordination.
2. Promoting a balance participation of the relevant stakeholders and consultative process to support the development of a thriving tea sector to improve the livelihoods of those involved, whilst sustainably managing the production landscapes and tea ecosystem.
3. Identifying pathways to reduce medium and long-term sustainability risks and promoting a net zero tea sector.
4. Knowledge sharing and the dissemination of best practices.

The expected outcome: