Tea plays a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction and food security in developing countries and is one of the most important cash crops in the world. Climate change is an important environmental issue and impacts greatly tea on growth and production as tea is mainly grown under rain-fed mono-cropping systems and weather conditions determine optimal growth. The effects of climate change on the tea economy and the mitigating measures that should be adopted are not yet well understood.
Tea growing areas of Asia and Africa have reported declines in tea production mainly caused by changes in climate. Prioritising mitigation and adaptation measures highlighted by the Working Group on Climate Change (WGCC) of the Intergovernmental Group on Tea (IGG/Tea) and analysing the costs and benefits of implementing them would need to be undertaken. This information would be helpful to countries in formulating appropriate strategies and policy frameworks to deal with the possible effects of climate change on their respective tea sub-sector.