In 2014, Chai launched the Njombe project in the Southern Highlands. The project’s aim is to demonstrate how a partnership approach between farmers, a private sector investor (in this case Unilever), government, donors (in this case the UK Department for International Development, DFID), and philanthropic investors can overcome the challenges of a tea greenfield development, developing a sustainable industry that puts the interests of local farmers and communities at the heart of its model.
The purpose of this case study is to document the key elements of the NOSC model, alongside the drivers of success, the challenges, the lessons learned and targets to inform future interventions in smallholder agriculture that may benefit from scaling or replicating the model.