DAR ES SALAAM, April 11– Tanzanian authorities on Tuesday announced a series of measures to revitalize the tea industry, including conducting an independent analysis of the costs involved in tea production. Minister of Agriculture Hussein Bashe has directed the newly appointed Tea Board of Tanzania (TBT) to provide a detailed breakdown of the cost structure of green tea within two weeks. Bashe told an annual meeting of tea stakeholders in the capital, Dodoma, that the government is committed to supporting the sector’s growth. “The immediate task for the newly appointed TBT is to form a team that will conduct an independent analysis of the costs involved in tea production, from farmers to factories,” said Bashe. Bashe questioned claims by factory owners that the purchase price of 360 Tanzanian shillings (0.13 U.S. dollar) per kilogram of tea leaves was too high, suggesting a lack of transparency in the pricing process. Tanzania‘s tea sector employs over 32,000 smallholder farmers and supports more than 2 million people indirectly, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. The ministry said that between December 2024 and March 2025, the country earned 50.25 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 19 million U.S. dollars) from tea exports.
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