Positive Feedback

Recent visits and audits by labelling organisations whilst also highlighting areas for us to work on, left us with an overall positive reassurance that we have some thing to be proud of.

Winfed Maniki of Rainforest Alliance commended our conservation area, describing it as ‘exemplary’. Our coffee management system incorporating; shade, wildlife corridors, minimum tillage etc also impressed her! Winfred as also able to allay our fears on the rigidity of the Rainforest Alliance standards.

Kennedy Chakanyuka from FLO-cert is a tough man to please! but he applauded the Joint Body’s fairtrade program and seemed particularly moved by the adult literacy classes he witnessed. It was good to get his feedback on our progress since his visit last year. We do indeed believe that Satemwa is breaking new ground in the management of fairtrade funds and has taken a unique (and successful if we may add!) approach to the very challenging system of the ‘Fairtrade Joint Body’ We hope that FLO-ev are able to learn from and appreciate what is going on on the ground in order to make best use of premium funds received from Fair-trade tea sales.

Certification Updates

We have just had a busy three weeks with a visit from Rainforest Alliance, an audit by Africert for Utz Certified and a two week audit by FLO cert of Satemwa and Satemwa Smallholders (Msuwadzi Association) for Fairtrade certification.

Quite a time consuming but positive process which sees a continuous improvement in our operations from one year to the next. It is interesting from our producers perspective to see the different approach the various labelling organisations have. We certainly learn from each of them, despite the many frustrations we have with dealing with the very in depth and pedantic standards.

Satemwa has decided to back all three of the big labelling organisations despite the costs of doing so. One has to assume that at some point there will be some losers and or harmonizing of the various standards.

Tea Research Foundation (CA) Field Day

Last week we attending the annual TRF(CA) field day in Mimosa, Mulanje. Of particular interest was a visit to some plots of the next generation of cultivars that have been developed by the TRF. One in particular 95/4-43 was see to be more vigorous than the current variety favoured by growers in Malawi for replanting – PC168.

At the research committee meeting which met on the 29th May, one of the topics was ‘climate change’ and how we can adapt to the changes that we can expect over the next 50 years. As tea is such a long term crop, with an expected life span in this area of >100 years, developing cultivars that can deal with hotter, drier conditions is an important part of our response to climate change.

One of the options Satemwa is looking at to reduce the effect of medium term climate change is to plant shade trees. This will start in our lower altitude gardens. At the moment we are still reviewing which species might be most suitable for our needs

Visit from the Rare Tea Company

Henrietta Lovell from the Rare Tea Company chatting to a Satemwa plucker during her recent quest to find Africa’s finest teas!