Tea Production in Kenya: Impact Assessment of Two Training Models

Smallholder tea farmers in Kenya are organized through the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), which works with farmers to produce, process and market high quality teas. KTDA promotes better tea production practices in order to help smallholder farmers increase production quantity and achieve certification--with the ultimate goal of strengthening existing tea markets and establishing new ones. Various KTDA farms are pursuing certification by Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade and UTZ. Given that the Lipton brand aims to source all tea from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms by 2015, studies such as this one are critical to the refinement of Rainforest Alliance training programs.