2022 was a really bad season for tea growing in the area, the weather was unusually cold which affected the crop. This meant they had to ask to restructure the repayments on their loan. This year is much better. The loan from Lendwithcare enabled them to obtain the necessary equipment and meet the standards required to get the HACCP standard. Until they had this food safety standard they could only export to Russia. Now they can sell their Tea in supermarkets and they hope that they will soon be able to grow enough to export to other markets.
This tea plantation brings much needed employment to the local area which is very poor with most people living on or below the poverty line.