The journey to Michimikuru….

posted at 11:58am, 24 Nov 09 by Cafédirect HQ [ 0 comments ]

Anne and I arrived in Nairobi late at night and went to sleep to the sound of a frog chorus at an incredible level outside. It really was quite musical!

Yesterday morning we met with the Kenyan Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to discuss the effects of the drought on the tea market in Kenya. One of the other main subjects was the burden for producers of dealing with multiple certification systems and the demands from some buyers to put these in place at the growers’ own expense. We talked about potential collaborations to ease this burden.

In the afternoon we took the 5 hour journey down to the Michimikuru Tea Factory- one of the 4 pilot groups taking part in AdapCC (Adaptation to Climate Change for Smallholder Farmers). Michimikuru is 100% owned by the growers and they produce tea from the leaves that are handpicked on the surrounding fields. The highlight of the day was the 11km ride from the main road up to the tea factory where we got to see the rolling hills covered in a duvet of tea bushes, a stunningly beautiful sight. It was a really bumpy road, so we needed to progress quite slowly which gave us the opportunity to see the community life around us.

We arrived just as the growers were finishing picking tea for the day and were bringing it to be weighed. They were carrying it in tea baskets just like the ones on the front of our Everyday Tea packs – although they look much larger in real life! The schools were letting out the kids at the end of the day so the roadside was full of people on their way home.

We received a warm reception from the 6 elected members of the board (including Andrew Ethuru who I have met at our offices in London) who met us for dinner of goat and organic chicken with rice and chapattis – fantastic food!

After a day’s travel and a truly packed itinerary, we’re getting an early night to ensure that we’re prepared for our early wake up call tomorrow! We’re off to Kiegoi, another producer partner, to meet the farmers and see their activities on the ground.

Jacquie

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