Programme Vision

In spite of the present critical role of tea in Malawian livelihoods, the future viability of this crop is not guaranteed. Based on previous assessments, including a climate mapping assessment by the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), it is evident that climate change is, and will continue to be, a challenge for smallholder tea growers and estate workers in Malawi. The climate-related impacts include drought; heavy rain and floods; and high temperatures and heatwaves. These challenges are compounded by issues such as deforestation and soil erosion. Given these circumstances, there is presently a need to capacitate SHTGs in climate change adaptation to increase their resilience to climate change impacts. The TLAP aims to address that need.

This project will be undertaken in three phases:

Firstly, in order to ensure sustainable adaptation, the TLAP will ensure holistic involvement of key stakeholders such as the farmers, estate owners and workers (both male and female), tea growing communities, tea grower blocks, associations and trusts, and relevant government departments. This engagement will ensure that all the relevant stakeholders have buy-in on the project and ownership of the proposed interventions.

Secondly, a mapping exercise will be conducted to identify the beneficiaries and the key stakeholders in the project, especially women who are crucial to the implementation of adaptation interventions.

Thirdly, various activities such as gender awareness meetings, capacity building in climate change adaptation, alternative livelihoods, sustainable agriculture practices, and lobbying and advocacy will be conducted. It is expected that these activities will lead to the following: the establishment of alternative livelihood sources, increased adoption of sustainable agriculture practices, adoption of gender-sensitive adaptation plans, and engagement in advocacy and lobbying activities.

It is important to note that the TLAP has been designed to complement other initiatives in the UTZ Sector Partnership Programme (SP). Specifically, the project will contribute to some of the key outcomes in the SP theory of change related to gender, lobbying and advocacy, and capacity building. Through the capacity needs assessments, the project will identify the specific capacity needs of the smallholder male and female farmers. These will inform the development of training materials in lobbying, advocacy, and gender which will be used to train the target beneficiaries. Additionally, the project will conduct gender sensitization meetings in targeted communities.

These activities will build a basis for the development of a lobbying and advocacy plan, and female empowerment activities in the SP. As the communities will have been sensitized on gender, and trained in lobbying, advocacy, and gender, the programme can build on these activities and continue to build the capacities of other beneficiaries and promote female empowerment within the formal structures of the smallholder tea growing sector.

It is also expected that the project will enable the communities to participate in decision-making processes due to their increased capacity. This will facilitate the active participation of both women and men in higher-level decision-making processes, including the advocacy for inclusion of their inputs, knowledge, and services into the sector policy.