YPI Scotland

His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn, the Chairman of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) visited The Wood Foundation’s greenfield tea development in Rugabano.

Following his visit, the former Ethiopian Prime Minister commended the Government of Rwanda’s agricultural development approach and cited his belief that it could be replicated in Ethiopia.

David Knopp, Director of Africa at The Wood Foundation, said:

“We are committed to sharing our learning and have embarked on a journey to scaling up and replicating the model not just in Rwanda’s tea sector, but also in other countries and value chains.

“We would like to thank the Government of Rwanda for their support, and for working with us to facilitate this and other opportunities.”

The Rugabano greenfield development includes the establishment of a new majority smallholder-supplied tea factory, a 400 hectare core estate, and 4,000 hectares of new smallholder tea planted by more than 10,000 smallholder farmers. This site is the exclusive supplier of greenleaf to Rugabano Tea Company factory, owned by the Silverback Tea Company which is a joint venture between The Wood Foundation Africa and Luxmi Tea Company. The factory was launched in 2019 and is already producing some of the highest-quality teas in Rwanda.

For the full article, please visit https://taarifa.rw/agrf-boss-wants-rwandan-tea-production-model-replicated-in-ethiopia/.