Tea
Tea is the largest and most established part of The Wood Foundation Africa’s agriculture portfolio, supporting smallholder farmers, factories and partners across Rwanda and Tanzania.
Building value from the ground up
The Wood Foundation Africa’s tea work brings together commercial investment and social purpose, supporting tea businesses to grow sustainably while creating better opportunities for smallholder farmers.
Through greenfield development, brownfield investment and farmer services, we help strengthen the systems around tea - from planting and agronomy to factory performance, governance and routes to market - so the industry can create lasting value for rural communities.
Tea in numbers
The Wood Foundation Africa’s tea portfolio has grown from a long-term belief in the potential of smallholder-led industries.
Across Rwanda and Tanzania, each project brings something different to the wider ambition: new growing areas, stronger factories, better farmer services, improved governance and more resilient routes to market. Together, they show how tea can create lasting value for farmers, communities and national economies.
$150m+
foreign direct investment represented through our greenfield tea developments
12,900 hectares
smallholder tea greenfield development supported across Rwanda and Tanzania
30,400
smallholder farmers empowered by brownfield investments
26,000
smallholder farmers empowered by greenfield investments
5,000
smallholder farmers became owners of Mulindi Tea Factory following our investment
Greenfield development
Greenfield development means building new tea-growing areas from the ground up.
The Wood Foundation Africa supports smallholder tea greenfield sites in Rwanda and Tanzania, helping create new routes for farmers to participate in commercially sustainable tea industries. This includes investment in farmer services, planting support, training, agronomic advice, inputs, finance and production logistics.
The aim is to build strong foundations from the start, giving farmers the support they need while creating a reliable supply base and stronger economic prospects for local communities.
Brownfield investment
Brownfield investment focuses on strengthening what already exists.
Through brownfield tea investments, The Wood Foundation Africa works with existing factories and smallholder farmer networks to improve performance, governance, management and long-term sustainability. This includes supporting majority-smallholder supplied factories and helping them become stronger, more competitive businesses.
By investing in established tea businesses, the model can improve quality, productivity and value for the farmers and communities already connected to the industry.
Farmer services
Smallholder farmers are at the centre of the tea model.
Dedicated service companies help farmers access the support they need to plant, grow and sell tea successfully. This can include Farmer Field Schools, agronomic advice, seedlings, fertiliser, finance, transport and production support.
These services are designed to strengthen farmer capability over time, helping improve productivity, quality and resilience while supporting a more sustainable tea supply chain.
Industry-level change
Alongside individual investments, The Wood Foundation Africa supports work designed to strengthen the wider tea sector.
In Rwanda, this includes Imbarutso, which supports competitiveness and long-term change across the tea industry. In Tanzania, Chai has supported innovation, co-investment, matching grants and technical assistance to improve smallholder outcomes and strengthen the market system.
This helps learning travel beyond one factory, site or farmer group, supporting stronger industries that can create value over time.
Our work so far
Njombe, Tanzania
Launched in 2014, the Njombe Vision supports 3,000 farmers to plant 2,500 hectares of smallholder tea in Tanzania.
At its centre is the Kabambe factory, built by Unilever and majority supplied by smallholders. Farmers jointly own Njombe Outgrowers Services Company (NOSC), planting 250 hectares of new tea each year.
More than 80% of the tea is grown in contiguous blocks, supporting efficiencies such as mechanised harvesting and block irrigation. The investment is delivered with support from Gatsby Foundation, FCDO and Unilever.
Nyaruguru North, Rwanda
The Nyaruguru greenfield was identified by the Government of Rwanda in 2017 as the country’s leading foreign direct investment.
Through Services Company Outgrowers Nyaruguru North (SCON(N)), the investment supports more than 6,000 farmers to plant 3,400 hectares of smallholder tea.
Unilever is developing an 800-hectare core estate and a new majority smallholder-supplied factory in Nyaruguru, with Gatsby Foundation and FCDO also investing as partners in the site.
Nyaruguru South, Rwanda
This is The Wood Foundation Africa’s newest greenfield development, launched in December 2020 in partnership with Unilever and the Government of Rwanda. It expands the original Nyaruguru greenfield development.
Through Services Company Outgrowers Nyaruguru South (SCON(S)), the investment will support more than 6,000 farmers to plant 3,000 hectares of smallholder tea.
To process the increased production, Unilever will construct an additional smallholder-supplied tea factory in Nyaruguru.
Rugabano, Rwanda
The Rugabano Greenfield Development brings together a new majority smallholder-supplied tea factory, a 400-hectare core estate and 4,000 hectares of new smallholder tea.
Through Rugabano Outgrowers Services Company (ROS), more than 10,000 smallholder farmers are planting tea and supplying greenleaf exclusively to the Rugabano Tea Company factory.
The factory is owned by Silverback Tea Company, a joint venture between The Wood Foundation Africa and Luxmi Tea Company. Launched in 2019, it is already producing some of the highest-quality teas in Rwanda.
Mulindi & Shagasha, Rwanda
Through East African Tea Investments (EATI), The Wood Foundation Africa and Gatsby Foundation partnered with smallholder farmers to acquire the Mulindi and Shagasha tea factories in 2012.
The factories are 100% smallholder-supplied and account for 20% of Rwanda’s made tea production. The investment provides finance, professional management and governance support, helping build profitable businesses for 13,000 smallholder farmer shareholders.
The Wood Foundation Africa exited Mulindi in 2022, once the investment was repaid at nil-return and agreed governance indicators were met.
Gisovu, Pfunda & Rugabano, Rwanda
Through Silverback Tea Company, The Wood Foundation Africa and Luxmi Tea Company acquired a majority stake in three Rwandan tea factories in 2019.
Gisovu, Pfunda and Rugabano produce some of Africa’s most sought-after black CTC teas, grown in volcanic soils at elevations between 1,900m and 2,500m.
Greenleaf is majority supplied by 17,400 smallholder farmers, who receive agronomic support and an additional premium for high-quality leaf.
Together, the factories combine strong farmer support with high-quality production, helping Rwanda’s tea industry compete at the highest level.
Nshili Kivu Tea Factory, Rwanda
Through Ubumwe Tea Holding Limited, The Wood Foundation Africa and Rwanda Mountain Tea acquired a majority stake in Nshili Kivu Tea Factory in 2023.
Located in Rwanda’s Nyaruguru District, Nshili Kivu produces high-quality black CTC tea and is supplied by a 700-hectare core estate and 690 hectares of smallholder production.
The investment will support a further 1,250 hectares of tea, bringing an additional 2,500 smallholders into the tea business through inputs, finance, agronomic advice, production logistics and market access.
It also aims to expand factory capacity, improve quality and productivity, and help Nshili Kivu become a premium, majority smallholder-supplied tea factory in Rwanda.
Chai industry-level programme in Tanzania
Since launching in 2009, this programme has supported more than 21,000 smallholder farmers, with a total investment of $10m.
The programme uses matching grants, co-investment and technical assistance to reduce risk, encourage private-sector innovation and strengthen the competitiveness of the wider tea market system.
Working with long-term partners
The Wood Foundation Africa’s tea work is shaped by long-term partnerships that combine commercial insight with local and development expertise. This shared approach helps attract investment and build stronger systems around smallholder-grown tea, from farmer support through to factory growth and market access.
Part of a wider agriculture portfolio
Tea is one part of The Wood Foundation Africa’s wider agriculture portfolio, alongside our work in vanilla and sugar.
Across each crop, the focus is the same: investing in enterprise, strengthening the systems around farmers and creating routes to long-term value.
Speak to the team
Interested in The Wood Foundation Africa’s tea work, our investment model or the partnerships behind it? Get in touch with the team.
Whether you’re looking for more information, exploring a potential partnership or want to understand where your enquiry fits, use the form below and we’ll make sure it reaches the right person.