Being a small-scale tea farmer in Kenya is not sustainable. There is no decent income from picking green leaf and dropping it off at the factories. After all the deductions and bonus payments, these small-scale farmers only earn about $2 per day for their work in tea on a 10-hour day. This works out to a lack of basic family needs – food, water, sanitation and education.
After many trials and patience between Canadians and Kenyans, Justea established Kenya’s first-ever, small-scale farmer-owned, Artisanal Tea Factory! Since this factory has been opened, Justea has seen a lot of amazing growth:
Created sustainable employment for youth and women in rural Kenya!
Partnered with a Women’s Herbal Tea Co-op in Eastern Kenya. JusTea is the first North American distributor for this co-op’s Organic herbs. Over 80% of the employees are women and they support hundreds of small-scale herbal tea farmers in their community.
Employed over 50 different woodworking families through the sales of our hand-carved Kenyan teaspoons. They have bought over 100,000 spoons and every purchase directly employs these carving families.
Learned an incredible amount about relationship business from our partners in Kenya
Travelled over 10 times from Canada to Kenya
Funded 3 trips for others to train farmers in crafting artisanal teas
Received the first Cottage-Industry Tea Processing license from the Tea Board of Kenya
