Last week, I was privileged to facilitate a workshop organised by TrustAfrica and Solidaridad for Women-led Tea Enterprises in Uganda held at Crane Resort, Ishaka – Bushenyi between 18th and 20th June, 2025. Among others, the training aimed at boosting the leadership skills of different women leaders so that they are able to champion tea innovations in Uganda, as well as solving several challenges that have colonised the tea industry.
According to the chairperson of Women Tea Innovations Uganda, Natukunda Maclean Mutungi, the workshop also aimed at empowering women tea leaders with business skills to improve the value of tea for better lives, aligning well with the ongoing challenges facing the tea sector, not only among tea farmers but globally.
She explained that the most pressing challenge is price fluctuations, which are caused by a mismatch between national production and consumption. According to Maclean and in correlation with other data records from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Uganda produces twenty-eight (28) times more tea than it consumes domestically. In 2022, Uganda produced 326,000 tons of tea. Of this, figures indicate that 90% was exported and 3.6% was consumed locally.
Some of the key players by market share of tea in Uganda include Kyamuhunga Tea Company Limited, Rusekere Growers Tea Factory Co., Ltd., Swazi Highland Tea Co., Rwenzori Commodities Limited, Igara Growers Tea Factory Limited, Kigezi Highland Tea Limited, and Buhweju Tea Factory Limited. The most common model of buying tea from smallholders by big players in Uganda follows a two-tier system. This means that smallholder farmers supply tea to either cooperative-run factories or private estate factories, depending on their affiliation. Small farmers do not own processing factories but rather sell Greenleaf to the nearby factories. Some of the gaps this causes include Market dependence, where farmers rely on a few or single buyers, which exposes them to vulnerability to price manipulation. Others include income inequalities, stunted growth and low motivation to innovate. Big players benefit 1.2 – 2.5 USD per kilogram after value addition at Mombasa or the international market.
By the time of writing this article, women in tea lamented that the price of a kilogram of tea had fallen from 320 shs to 650 shs. This is a price decline of more than 50%. Farmers are demotivated and most of them are uprooting their tea plants.
To address these challenges, Women in Tea Association Uganda has decided to innovate other products that can be consumed locally to bridge the gap between production and consumption. To achieve this goal, women must be innovative and compete for the market share in Uganda. There are many areas where women can exploit to benefit from the local market share. This includes participating in the procurement processes as established by the laws in Uganda. The Ugandan government has opened opportunities where tea innovators can supply their products to the government and other organised institutions. This is through participation in the procurement processes.
According to the chairperson of Women Tea Innovation, Maclean Natukunda, women have innovated different tea specialities, which are orthodox teas and include white tea, black tea, green tea, oolong tea, and yellow tea. These are high-value products and are delivered through an eco- and organic means of production. Women are also innovative enough to get some tea bi products to manufacture bar soaps, liquid soap, ready-to-drink medicinal tea, wine, perfume, fertiliser, etc.
The PPDA Act amended in 2021, which was operationalised in July 2021, and the regulations operationalised on 5th February 2024, have one of the key objectives as promoting procurement as a social–economic tool through sustainable procurement. Women in tea innovation can capitalise on this to find a market for their manufactured products.
The law provides that all bidding documents should provide for application of preference or reservation schemes. The law further instructs that Procuring Department Entities (PDEs) may source for equipment or supplies directly from manufacturers for medical, aviation, industrial and agricultural procurements.
Companies Rise or Fall on How Well They Renew Their LeadersAccording to Regulation 12 (2024), Reserved Procurement Thresholds for Women-Owned Associations are provided for. Central Government Entities must reserve procurement opportunities (goods, works, and services) of up to UGX 30 million exclusively for registered associations of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities. It also provides that Local Government Entities must reserve similar procurement up to UGX 10 million for the same groups, including women-owned enterprises.
This regulation allows women-owned tea enterprises/cooperatives to directly access government tenders on items like tea supply & packaging, consultancy support, or agro-equipment, without full open competition up to UGX 10–30 million.
This reduces initial barriers and gives visibility to innovative women-led tea businesses.
Regulation 11 of the 2024 Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Guidelines in Uganda introduces a transformative provision aimed at empowering traditionally marginalised groups—specifically women, youth, and persons with disabilities—through inclusive public procurement. This regulation mandates that selected public procurement opportunities be ring-fenced exclusively for registered associations or enterprises owned by these groups. By doing so, the regulation offers a direct path for women-led enterprises to participate in government contracting without competing against larger, more established firms. It is a bold step toward promoting economic equity, especially for women in sectors like agriculture and agribusiness, including tea production and innovation.
For women engaged in tea innovation, this regulation is especially relevant. Uganda’s tea sector, while largely export-driven, has historically offered limited local market share and formal procurement participation for smallholder women producers and entrepreneurs. Regulation 11 addresses this gap by ensuring that public institutions, such as local governments, ministries, and public schools, set aside specific contracts that are only open to women-owned businesses. This not only provides women tea innovators with guaranteed access to formal markets but also offers them a dependable platform to supply their products, services, or even innovations such as eco-friendly packaging, tea-based wellness products, or tea-related consultancy.
By ring-fencing procurement, Regulation 11 levels the playing field. It recognises that women-led enterprises, especially in rural or semi-urban areas, often lack the financial or technical muscle to compete in open tenders. Reserved procurement enables these women to grow their capacity incrementally, utilising secured public contracts as a stepping stone to higher-value markets. This regulation, therefore, becomes a policy-based instrument for nurturing innovation and scaling businesses in the tea sector.
In the broader context of Uganda’s tea industry, which produces over 300,000 tonnes annually but consumes less than 5% of that locally, the impact of Regulation 11 can be far-reaching. It provides a structured market where local tea innovators, many of whom are women, can test, refine, and scale their ideas in response to real market needs. For instance, supplying customised tea packs to schools, government offices, or community-based tourism initiatives under reserved contracts can stimulate local value addition and drive greater domestic consumption.
Moreover, this regulation contributes to gender-responsive development by aligning with Uganda’s national objectives for inclusive economic growth and the Sustainable Development Goals. It validates the role of women not merely as beneficiaries of development but as key drivers of innovation and market transformation. In empowering women to participate in public procurement through reservation schemes, Regulation 11 fosters a more equitable, vibrant, and inclusive tea industry.
In essence, Regulation 11 is not just a legal requirement; it is a policy tool that unlocks market opportunities, encourages innovation, and enhances local economic participation for women in tea. It addresses historical inequalities in market access and offers hope for a future where the tea sector is as inclusive and locally rewarding as it is globally competitive.
