{"id":10459,"date":"2016-11-04T00:40:41","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/too-hot-for-your-tea-to-brew\/"},"modified":"2016-11-04T00:46:25","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T04:46:25","slug":"too-hot-for-your-tea-to-brew","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/too-hot-for-your-tea-to-brew\/","title":{"rendered":"TOO HOT FOR YOUR TEA TO BREW?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A myth ties the origins of tea to an errant gust of wind that blew tea leaves into a Chinese emperor\u2019s hot water more than 4,700 years ago. Ever since, tea is one of the most commonly consumed beverage.<\/p>\n

The Kayonza Growers Tea Factory is a cooperative situated in Kanungu District, 25kms away from Bwindi National park, a rainforest in the south western part of Uganda. The factory is fully owned by over 5,000 small scale shareholders who acquire shares through monthly deductions from their pay for green leaf delivered to the factory.<\/p>\n

\"kayonza\"\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over 90% of the Kayonza community members are dependent on locally-sourced wood for energy, leading to high deforestation rates. According to the UNDP, the Kayonza community is not only facing deforestation, but also prolonged drought, wetland encroachment, soil degradation and water shortages due to increasing effects of climate change.<\/p>\n

Unlike many agricultural products, tea bushes are consistently planted for 60 years so it\u2019s the same bush that is being plucked every year instead of a re-planted crop. Tea is therefore more responsive to the climate rather than the weather. Studies on the impact of climate change have shown that an average temperatures rise by 2.3 degrees celsius by 2050 could potentially wipe out Uganda’s most profitable tea producing areas, with severe losses in productivity already apparent by 2020.<\/p>\n

\"kanungu-tea-farmers\"<\/p>\n

Small scale tea farmers, such as the Kayonza farmers, are even more vulnerable to climate change impacts because of limited options and resources available for adaptation. The result has been low tea production, food scarcity and decline in household revenues.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kayonza factory operations are overseen by a General Manager, assisted by five department heads. The company manufactures Black teas with production of up to 3,000 tones annually. Primary grades make about 90% and Secondary grades make 10% of the total production. High quality products are essential for export revenues and overall financial performance.<\/p>\n

\"a-worker-shovels-tea\"<\/p>\n

A worker shovels tea onto an electricity run mill at Kayonza tea factory in Kanungu<\/em><\/p>\n

At the Factory level, weather variability can have very negative effect on the business operations and economics through:<\/p>\n