Growing together: How block farming is changing the lives of smallholder tea farmers

In Southern Tanzania, smallholder tea farmers are finding new ways to improve their livelihoods through a collaborative approach known as block farming. This model enables groups of smallholder farmers to work together on shared land. In Njombe, this initiative helps landless farmers – often women and young people – gain access to land they would not normally have. By pooling resources, these farmers can benefit from shared inputs, training and a guaranteed buyer for their tea.

“Now we are moving forwards”

At THIRST, we’re committed to highlighting the realities faced by farmers in the tea industry. We spoke with a focus group of seven farmers who shared their experiences with block farming, and their stories shed light on how this model is supporting community and improving livelihoods.

Through their stories, it became clear that block farming has promoted a strong sense of community. One farmer shared: “When we started it was difficult, but now we are moving forward and even more people are now joining tea. If we get more land we can expand more.” This collective effort has allowed farmers to pool resources, making it easier to access necessary inputs and infrastructure.

For many farmers, the financial reliability of tea farming is a significant improvement over traditional crop. “Before the tea was planted, life was not good, but we are ok now. Before tea, I was farming maize, the problem was that it was a seasonal business. In tea, I am assured that I am getting a monthly income,” one farmer explained.

While tea has become the main focus of their farming, the group continues to grow other crops, such as beans and millet. “We get a monthly income from the tea. We still grow other crops … but the income from this is not regular,” they noted. The stability provided by tea allows for supplementary crop farming and contributes to a more well-rounded approach to their agricultural practices.

The impact of tea farming also includes better support for education. “I couldn’t support my children’s education before tea. Now I’m able to send three of them to school,” remarked a farmer. The consistent income allows families to invest in their children’s futures.

The power of support

Support from organisations like Njombe Outgrower Services Company (NOSC) has been instrumental in guiding farmers toward better practices. A farmer explained: “NOSC has helped us learn better techniques – for example before we were using hand plucking and currently, they are using machines which is improving their productions. NOSC provides inputs such as herbicides. We have learned new planting techniques, how we can grow tea seedlings in nurseries.” This support increases productivity and encourages the adoption of sustainable practices.

While block farming offers many benefits, it’s important to acknowledge the hurdles farmers still face. The project currently relies on significant external support from the third sector. Current issues like global over-supply of tea and the potential for deforestation pose ongoing concerns and, as of now, returns may not be sufficient for farmers to invest in their own transportation (although, this may change as the programme matures).

Dig deeper – view the webinar

The stories from Njombe’s farmers are truly inspiring. They reflect the real changes that block farming has brought to their lives and communities. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more about their stories and discover how this innovative approach is reshaping the tea industry.

In the second in our inspiring series of webinars on alternative approaches in the tea sector, Filbert Kavia, led an insightful online session on how the innovative block farming approach is empowering smallholder tea farmers. Filbert – who is Transform Trade’s Regional Director for Africa and a Trustee of THIRST – has played an integral part in developing the block farm methodology in Rwanda and Tanzania.

He recounted the story of how the concept of block farming emerged from listening carefully to farmers themselves, and how multistakeholder collaboration – including a very supportive government – has led to the scaling up of the approach within Tanzania and beyond… and even beyond the tea sector. He also shared the numerous benefits of the approach which is leading to greater land ownership (and therefore agency) by women and young people. If you missed the webinar, you can now view the recording.

View the webinar