We are Women in Tea

We are Women in Tea Uganda — a growing group of more than 1,200 women from 26 districts who grow tea. For many years, we picked tea for others. Now, we’ve joined forces to do things differently. Now, we make our own delicious specialty teas.

Together, we have started in 2023 to learn the craft of making specialty tea. Step by step, we build our skills to bring out the best our leaves have to offer. We are moving away from mass production — and towards quality and value.

With the right training, tools, and support, we are determined to build a tea movement that is fair, inclusive, world-class, and women-led. We are committed to empowering women at every stage of the tea journey. From farming and processing to packaging and distribution.

Our Ambitions

Economic empowerment of women across the tea value chain
Practical, hands-on training in tea making, tasting, and quality control
Strengthening business and financial skills
Promoting sustainable and eco-friendly farming, processing and packaging practices
Advocating for fair wages, decent working conditions, and protection against gender-based violence in tea communities
Exploring new markets and building supply chains for high-quality Ugandan specialty tea

Our Specialty Tea

We are the first in Uganda to make and export specialty tea.
That’s new. But it fits our country, known as the Pearl of Africa.

Uganda is green, rich in life, and full of beauty. And our lands have been without pesticides and chemical fertilizers for many years. You can taste that in the tea we make.

Still, it’s a big shift. Uganda has long produced black CTC tea in bulk. We are now turning the same leaves into a product that showcases their full potential. This takes practice, patience, and skill. And we’re learning every day.

This way, we’re slowly building a range of artisan teas.

Our First Tea: Soft Pearl

Soft Pearl is a white tea made from the young buds of the tea plant.

The buds are covered in soft, silvery hairs — their natural protection. No machines are used. Just skilled hands, time, and care.

The buds are handpicked in the morning. Then they’re gently laid out to wither and dry. We move them between sun and shade, depending on the weather. All the while, we watch closely, checking moisture and letting natural processes do their work. This is how the soft taste and delicate aromas develop.

Soft Pearl white tea has a light, sweet, floral flavor, with hints of rose and jasmine. You can brew it more than once. Served cold and sparkling, it’s an equally delightful choice for festive moments.

Tea in Uganda

Uganda is a land of hills, forests, and volcanoes. The tea fields around Fort Portal and Bwindi are green, cool, and quiet — perfect for growing tea.

The tea plant we grow here, Camellia Sinensis Assamica, grows fast. It can be picked every five to seven days. You might think that’s too quick to develop real flavor — but it’s not. All ingredients are there, waiting to be released.

Conventional system

Uganda produces around 60,000 to 70,000 tons of tea each year. That makes us one of Africa’s largest tea producers. But most of that tea is low-value black CTC. About 95% is exported in bulk through the Mombasa Tea Auction in Kenya. Large exporters buy it cheap.

In this traditional system farmers earn less than $0.05 per kilo of green leaf. That’s not enough to live on.

As a result, many tea farms have been abandoned or even uprooted to make way for other crops. Tea is increasingly seen as a crop without a future.

Unlocking the power of specialty tea

Meanwhile, the world is looking for something better. Specialty teas are in demand: handpicked and carefully crafted. They tell a story. And more important: they sell for more and offer hope.

Women in Tea Uganda is stepping into that future. With focus, skill, and teamwork, we work to show what Ugandan tea can truly be. And making sure the people behind it finally get their fair share.