Appendix 11 longitudinal impact study mpanga

Annex 11

Table of Contents Page Table of Contents

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List of Figures

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Background of the study

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Overview of the Tea Sector in Uganda

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Historical Background of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory

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Review of Business and Commercial Performance of Mpanga (2005-2015)

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Social and Environmental Impact

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List of Figures Figure 1: Mpanga’s Green Leaf Production from 2005 to 2014

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Figure 2: Sales volume of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

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Figure 3: Gross Profit Margins of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

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Figure 4: Asset Value of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

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Figure 5: Employee Population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

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Figure 6: Producer Population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

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Background of the study Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited has become one of the key actors in the tea sector in Uganda today. Over the last two decades, the organisation has gone through a lot of developmental stages and processes, which have impacted on its business and financial performance. Mpanga have made some important interventions that resulted in the improvement of the livelihood of many tea producers in the Kabarole and Kyenjojo districts of Western Uganda. They created several jobs and improved the working conditions of their employees over time. They have also undertaken several community development projects in the areas of health, education, water and sanitation, road infrastructure and shelter. Mpanga have created a good corporate name and they are recognised nationwide for their social interventions and good labour practices. Today, one cannot tell the story of tea production and processing in Uganda without reference to Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited.

Mpanga is a customer with whom Shared Interest have a long history of financial support.

Since 2007, Mpanga have benefited from several financial interventions from Shared Interest in a form of term loans. The present study, therefore, set out to look at the history of Mpanga in the context of the assistance Shared Interest have been able to provide over the past 10 years. It specifically examined the changes in the business and commercial performance of the organisation in the light of Shared Interest interventions. The study also looked at the social and environmental impact made by Mpanga over the period.

The study utilised a case study approach (qualitative) and the main methods employed for data collection were key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Interviews were held with key members of the Senior Management Team, namely the General Manager, the Accountant, the Marketing Manager, the Field Manager and the Human Resource Manager; the Kasunga Estate Manager was also interviewed. Furthermore, an exclusive in-depth interview was held with the first Factory Manager of Mpanga who also happened to be a tea producer and has been supplying the organisation for the past 18 years. Additionally, three different producers of Mpanga, who have been with the organisation for over 20 years provided valuable information that fed into the study.

Besides individual interviews, focus group discussions were organised with different groups of employees of Mpanga including two groups of factory workers and two groups of estate workers. Each group had at least four members and was composed of exclusively either male or female employees who have been with Mpanga for not less than 5 years. The financial 2

records of Mpanga were also reviewed to gather data on the business and financial performance of the organisation over the years. The data obtained through qualitative inquiries and documentary reviews were supplemented by the results of the 2014 producer/employee survey carried out to ascertain the impact of Shared Interest interventions on producers and employees of Mpanga as well as their households.

The findings of the study are quite interesting and revealing. They present the picture of an organisation that was able to grow and sustain its business throughout the years. In fact, Mpanga rose up to the challenges of the time, expanded rapidly and succeeded in transforming their business landscape to the amazement of stakeholders. The organisation was able to achieve this level of success through collaborative partnership and access to finance. Indeed, access to finance played a crucial role in the survival of Mpanga. It has enabled them to step up their production capacity and to sustain their business operations even in the face of major shake-ups in the tea sector.

Overview of the Tea Sector in Uganda Uganda is a landlocked country located in Eastern Africa. It has a total area of 236,040 square kilometres including a land area totalling 199,710 square kilometres. The country is bordered on the west by Congo, on the north by the Sudan, on the east by Kenya, and on the south by Tanzania and Rwanda. It is in the heart of the Great Lakes region, and it is surrounded by Lake Edward, Lake Albert, and Lake Victoria. Uganda is in a tropical region and lies across the equator; it has a population of 35,918,915 with 3.24% growth rate and a life expectancy of 54.46.

Despite being on the equator, Uganda is more temperate than the surrounding countries due to its altitude. The country is mostly plateau with a rim of mountains. This has made it more suitable to agriculture and less prone to tropical diseases. Basically, the country is divided into three main areas namely swampy lowlands, fertile plateau with wooded hills, and a desert region. Uganda has a bimodal precipitation pattern, with two distinct wet and dry seasons each year. The climate in much of Uganda is suitable for commercial cultivation of tea.

Uganda has a relatively long history of tea cultivation among African countries.

In Africa, Uganda is the third leading producer and exporter of tea (45,000MT) after Kenya (295,000MT) and Malawi (55,000MT). Uganda’s tea is produced on 26,000 hectares of land

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with 12,000 hectares under estate and 14,000 hectares under small holder out growers. Tea is Uganda’s third largest agricultural export commodity by value after coffee and fish.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), 93% of Uganda’s tea products are exported while 7% is consumed domestically. Statistics from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) indicate that Uganda earned USD 72,000,000 from exporting 63,456 tons of tea cultivated on 35,194 hectares of land in 2013. This represented 2.8% of Uganda’s total export, 1.26% of global tea exports and 0.36% of Uganda’s Gross Domestic Products. The tea industry employs over 62,000 people and supports more than 500,000 livelihoods in Uganda (Bank of Uganda, 2011). Tea growing is considered as a very important tool for fighting poverty through its ability as a source of employment to households especially in rural areas. Uganda tea is exported through the Mombasa tea auction centre, which markets to worldwide destinations.

In all, Uganda has 12 tea processing and exporting companies operating 28 processing factories. One of these companies is Mpanga Growers Tea Factory whose tea is marketed through the Fairtrade value chain.

Historical Background of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Historically, tea plant was introduced to Uganda around 1900. In the mid-1950s, it became the country’s estate crop and was essentially under the control of Asians and Europeans. In 1966, the Government of Uganda established Uganda Tea Growers Corporation (UTGC) to take care of the interest of smallholder tea farmers in Uganda. In order to boost the country’s export earnings through tea production and to improve the socioeconomic conditions of small holders, the Government, in 1988, initiated a 10 year tea rehabilitation project in the small holder tea sector with funding support from the European Union. The project, which was known as “Small holder Tea Rehabilitation Project (STRP)” covered the rehabilitation of farmers’ gardens and tea processing factories. The successful implementation of this project resulted into an increase in tea production volume from 500 metric tons in 1980 to 10,971 metric tons in 1994.

In 1994, the European Union provided another grant to Uganda to support the Smallholder Tea Development Programme of the country. It was a five year programme that led to the privatisation of the four tea factories that were under the Uganda Tea Growers Corporation.

The objective was to empower smallholder tea farmers to increase tea production so as to

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improve their income and livelihood. The privatisation process was led by the Agriculture Industrial Management Agency (AGRIMAG), a management consultancy contracted by Government. By the year 2000, the ownership of these four factories passed to smallholders who became shareholders. Mpanga Growers Tea Factory was one of the four factories that were under the then UTGC. It was established in 1971 and was then known as Mpanga Tea Factory. The name changed to Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited in 1995 during the privatisation process.

Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited is a rural-based factory located in Sebitoli in the Kabarole district of Western Uganda. It is 12 kms away from Fort Portal, the district capital and about 300 kms from Kampala. Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Ltd was incorporated in 1995 as a public limited company wholly owned by smallholder tea farmers in Kabarole and Kyenjojo districts of Western Uganda. After its incorporation, smallholder tea farmers were encouraged to acquire shares by means of deductions from their pay for green leaf delivered to the factory every month. By the year 2000, all the 100,000 share capital had been paid up by the smallholders who became the legitimate owners of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited. As at 2014, the company had a total of 1,046 members and an employee population of 633. The mission of Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Company Limited is the processing of tea leafs and marketing of high quality made tea on behalf of the shareholder farmers.

Review of Business and Financial Performance of Mpanga Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Limited had a very difficult beginning; of the four factories that were incorporated in 1995, Mpanga was described as the smallest in terms of membership, production level and infrastructure. According to the former accountant of Mpanga, many were those who doubted the ability of Mpanga to stand by itself. In 1999, two estates were purchased for Mpanga under the Smallholder Tea Development Programme.

These were the Kibale and Kyapa estates. The objective was to increase Mpanga’s production volume and ensure a meaningful profit margin for the organisation. As a result of this intervention, Mpanga, in the year 2000, was able to rehabilitate her only production line which had become obsolete and less efficient. The rehabilitation of the production line had increased productivity at the factory level. The quality of the tea produced had improved leading to an increase in the profit margin of the business.

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Furthermore, Mpanga expanded the processing factory by adding one new production line in 2003. This was financed through bank borrowing. Though a new production line was added, the profit margin of the business did not increase significantly as most of the profit was being absorbed by the high interest on the bank facility.

The year 2007 was a major milestone in the business of Mpanga. The organisation was able to acquire the enviable Kasunga estate with financial support from Shared Interest. This was the first intervention of Shared Interest in Mpanga. The estate covered about 300 hectares of land including 150 hectares of tea estates and 117 hectares of forest. In addition, the Kasunga estate has a tea training centre, a conference hall, a restaurant and residential bungalows. The acquisition of this estate led to great improvements in the business and commercial performance of Mpanga.

Kasunga conference centre

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Production of green leafs There was a significant increase in green leafs production after the acquisition of the Kasunga tea estate. Figure 1 shows the historical trend of Mpanga’s green leafs production from 2005.

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Figure 1: Mpanga’s Green Leafs Production from 2005 to 2014

Production volume per year (in MT): 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 Production volume per year (in MT):

6,000 4,000 2,000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The production of green leafs before 2005 was below 8,000 metric tons. This was essentially due to the fact that Mpanga at the time had only two tea estates and the number of producers was also very limited. However, there was a sudden rise in the production volume of the organisation after 2007, when the Kasunga tea estates was purchased. The production volume rose from 8,196 metric tons in 2007 to 12,841 metric tons in 2012. The acting marketing manager explained that the rise in production volume was as a result of the additional estate bought in 2007. He noted that Mpanga after taking over the Kasunga estate succeeded in increasing production from the tea estate from170 kgs per month to 300kg per month and this impacted on the green leaf production level of the organisation.

A sharp decline was observed in the production levels of the business in 2011 and 2014. The production of green leafs dropped from 12,841 metric tons in 2010 to 10,747 in 2011. There was also a reduction in production from12, 527 metric tons in 2013 to 11,342 metric tons in 2014. These were attributed to the effects of climate change. Those two years were characterised by severe droughts, which affected yield.

It was reported that the gardens of many farmers got dried up in those two years leading to a short fall in production.

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A closer look at figure 1 reveals that production of green leafs picked up again after 2011. It moved from 10,747 metric tons in 2011 to 12,527 metric tons in 2013. This rapid recovery in production was the direct outcome of Shared Interest intervention in 2012 with a financial support to Mpanga for the purchase of inputs for distribution to farmers. This has translated into an increase in yield and in production volume.

View of part of Kasunga tea estate

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Sales volume The sales volume of Mpanga dwindled from 2000 metric tons in 2005 to 1800 metric tons in 2007. After 2007, the sales volume of the business saw a rapid growth, indicating improvement in the business of Mpanga after the acquisition of the Kasunga estate. Figure 2 shows the performance of the business in terms of sales volume from 2005 to 2014.

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Figure 2: Sales Volume of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

Sales Volume (mt) 3,500

3,000 2,500 2,000 Sales Volume (mt)

1,500 1,000 500 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The sales volume grew from 1,879 metric tons in 2007 to 2,898 metric tons in 2010.

The growth in sales volume was mainly explained by the increase in the supply of green leafs to the factory, a bigger chunk of which came from the Kasunga tea estate.

Another factor that accounted for the growth in sales volume was the increase in the withering capacity of the factory. The withering section of the factory was expanded and a new withering machinery was acquired during the period leading to the doubling of the processing capacity of the factory from 40,000kg to 80,000kg of green leafs. However, there were transitory downward variations in 2011 and 2014 mainly explained by reductions in the supply of green leafs due to severe drought that affected production those two years. It is evident from the statistics that since the acquisition of the Kasunga tea estate, Mpanga has, generally, recorded a steady growth in their sales volume. 

Gross Profit The profit margins of Mpanga were affected by tea price fluctuation. The records indicate that 90% of Mpanga’s tea is sold through the Mombasa Tea Auction Centre in Kenya. Tea prices on the auction market are determined by demand and supply, quality and geographical location. Figure 3 presents the profit levels of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014.

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Figure 3: Gross Profit Margins of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014 Gross Profit Margin 35 30 25 20 Gross Profit Margin

15 10 5 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The gross profit margin of Mpanga rose from 2005 to 2006 and fell significantly in 2007. This was as a result of the decline in the average price of tea at the auction centre; the average price declined from USD 1.68/kg to USD 1.56/kg and led Mpanga into incurring a loss of UGX 159,871,000 at the end of 2007 season. The acquisition of the Kasunga estate in 2007 played a vital role in the recovery process of Mpanga in the subsequent years. The business gross profit margin grew significantly from 4% in 2007 to 19% in 2008 and 24% in 2009. Several factors accounted for this phenomenal increase in profit margin. First, after taking over the Kasunga estate, Mpanga was able to effectively and rigorously monitor quality processes at the Kasunga tea estate leading to improvement in the quality of tea, which in turn attracted better prices at the auction in 2008 and 2009. Second, Mpanga’s cost of production went down considerably during the same period. This was attributed to the supply of fuel wood from the Kasunga forest to the factory. We recall that Kasunga estate was acquired together with 117 hectares of forest. The forest was populated with eucalyptus, which are renewable trees and friendly to the environment when used as fuel wood. Mpanga continued to maintain the forest by planting more eucalyptus trees, which have become a sustainable source of energy for tea processing at the factory. Indeed, tea processing requires steam for withering, fermentation and drying. There is, therefore, an extensive use of fuel wood throughout the process. Mpanga’s expenditure on fuel wood dropped significantly resulting in a reduction in the business cost of production, hence the significant increase in profit margin. This growth could not be sustained 10

beyond 2009 as business begun to experience a fall in profit margin due to quality issues. Mpanga needed to address these quality issues stemming from inadequate supply of inputs to producers. Again, Shared Interest intervened in 2012 by providing financial support to Mpanga for the purchase of fertilizers for distribution to producers. The results of this intervention were remarkable. The business achieved 32% gross profit margin in 2012 and 29% in 2013, the highest ever in the history of the organisation.

Side view of part of Kasunga forest

However, the tea sector in Uganda was hit hard by the sharp decline in tea auction average prices in 2014. From an average price of USD 2.2 /kg in 2013, the price fell to USD 0.9/kg in 2014. This has adversely affected the profit margin of Mpanga in 2014, which dropped from 29% in 2013 to 2% in 2014. The decline in tea prices was attributed to a drop in demand as against supply. The demand for tea at the auction market was very low due to the political and economic challenges facing some of the key markets, namely Egypt, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan and DRC. It was reported that there was an oversupply of more than 2 million kg of tea at the Mombasa Tea Auction Market in 2014.Mpanga described these situation as system problem and has taken a number of steps to buffer the business and to recover quickly from the shock.

These steps include green leaf quality improvement, the search for alternative market and increase in local sales through value addition.

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Asset base There has been a steady increase in the total asset of Mpanga over the years. From a total asset value of USD 1,963,840 in 2005, the business has expanded its asset base to USD 6,449,160 as at December 2014. This represented over 228% growth rate over the period. Figure 4 shows the asset value of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014.

Figure 4: Asset Value of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014 Asset Value (USD) 8,000,000 7,000,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000

Asset Value (USD)

3,000,000 2,000,000

1,000,000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

The total asset value of Mpanga increased from USD 1,963,840 in 2005 to USD 2,791,600 in 2007 representing 42% growth rate in two years. The business’ asset base expanded more rapidly between 2007 and 2008, recording a growth rate of 54% within the period. This was primarily attributed to the acquisition of the Kasunga estate. The total asset value of the business increased further in 2009 with the construction of the Kibale labour camp and the extension of the withering house at the processing factory. There was, however, a decline in the asset value of the business from 2010 to 2011 due to the disposal of obsolete machinery and asset re-evaluation.

As shown in figure 4, Mpanga’s asset base rose sharply from USD 4,716,025 in 2012 to USD 6,784,900 in 2013 and to USD 6,449,160 in 2014 being the highest ever attained by the business since its incorporation. This sharp rise resulted from the construction of a blending unit and factory workers quarters in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The construction of the factory workers quarters was yet another intervention of Shared Interest in Mpanga. In effect, Shared Interest granted a facility 12

to Mpanga in 2013 for the construction of housing units for workers. This has expanded Mpanga’s asset base during the period. However, there was a slight reduction in total asset in 2014 due to a decrease in the profit margin of the business.

As we may recall, the profit margin of Mpanga declined significantly in 2014 as a result of the fall in tea prices on the auction market. Nonetheless, Mpanga can still boast of a solid asset base which is a reflection of the resiliency and sustainability of their achievements over the years, thanks to the support of major actors like Shared Interest.

Social and Environmental Impact The great business and commercial performance of Mpanga could also be mirrored through its social and environmental impact. The young and frail Mpanga of the early 2000s has now become one of the major players in the tea industry in Uganda.

Through their social interventions, Mpanga has been able to create a good cooperate name in the country. In 2014, the organisation won the Employer of the Year Award, which was handed over to them by the President of the Republic of Uganda. In actual fact, Mpanga has provided jobs to many men and women in the Kabarole district of Western Uganda. The employee population grew from 411 in 2005 to 663 in 2014, representing 61% growth rate over the period. Figure 4 shows the employee population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014.

Figure 5: Employee Population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

Employee Population 700 600 500 400

Employee Population

300 200

100 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

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Despite upwards variations in the employee population, it has seen a steady growth over the years. The slight decline in growth observed between 2010 and 2013 was due to several reasons: first, Mpanga went through a restructuring process that led to the retrenchment of some staff in 2010; second, the introduction of automated plucking machines has also brought a reduction in the number of casual workers. However, in 2013, Mpanga embarked on hiring tea estates to increase production and supply of green leafs to the factory. In all 13 tea estates were hired by Mpanga between 2013 and 2014. Additional workers were, therefore, engaged for these newly acquired estates, hence the sharp increase in the number of employees in 2014. According to Mpanga’s field manager, this strategy will enable the organisation to better monitor quality, which is key to achieving better prices on the auction market.

Besides the hiring of new estates, Mpanga set off to expand production in the existing estates in order to ensure adequate supply of quality tea leafs to the factory in the near future. The expansion also led to the employment of more workers, whose services were, obviously required to maintain the gardens.

The organisation has consistently demonstrated her commitment to the promotion of the general welfare of workers. One of the key areas of intervention in relation to staff welfare was the provision of decent shelter for staff. Since 2009, Mpanga have been constructing staff quarters to provide accommodation for their workers. The Kibale Labour Camp was established in 2009 for workers of the Kibale Tea Estate. Three additional blocks of six single rooms each were constructed to accommodate more workers at the Kasunga Labour Camp in 2010. Pursuant to their objective of providing better homes for their workers, Mpanga constructed the Sebitole staff quarters and acquired one more residential facility at Kaswa in 2011. Furthermore, Shared Interest provided financial support to Mpanga in 2013 for the construction of more staff quarters for factory workers. These interventions are indicative of the resolve of Mpanga to provide better living conditions to their workers. In a survey carried out in 2014 involving 207 employees of Mpanga, 72% of them indicated that they were happy with the shelter arrangement of the organisation. Employees who were not provided with shelter received housing allowance.

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One of the housing units put up with financial support from Shared Interest

Further results from the 2014 employee survey revealed that employees of Mpanga were satisfied with their working conditions. The majority of employees interviewed indicated that their working conditions have improved over time. In a focus group discussion with a section of casual workers in June 2015, they reported significant changes in their living conditions. In fact, the average daily wage of casual workers has improved from UGX 2,850 in 2005 to UGX 3,900 in 2014, representing 37% growth rate.

The producer population of Mpanga has also grown significantly over the period. It rose from 1,100 in 2005 to 1,898 in 2014, a growth rate of 73%. Figure 6 shows the producer population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014.

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Figure 6: Producer Population of Mpanga from 2005 to 2014

Producer Population 2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

Producer Population

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014

The producer population has seen a steady growth from 2005 to 2009 and dropped sharply in 2010 after a revision of the organisation’s producers list. It was realised that some producers had no longer been supplying Mpanga but still had their names on the producer list of the organisation. The revision was, therefore, carried out to ascertain the actual number of active producers. After the revision exercise, the producer population started growing up again as new producers joined the organisation. In 2014, their number increased very significantly. The field manager explained that the increase was due to the registration of a high number of new farmers in the course of the year. Mpanga needed to expand its producer base by admitting young producers who will eventually replace the older generation of producers who was becoming weaker and less productive. The organisation continued to call on producers to involve their wives and children in tea production by giving them ownership of part of their tea estates. Some of the older producers heeded to the call and gave away part of their tea estates to their children and wives leading to the dramatic increase in producer population in 2014.

The average price per unit paid to the producer went up from USD 0.10 / kg in 2005 to USD 0.17 / kg in 2014, representing 70% growth rate over the period. The growth of the average price per unit paid to the producer is an indication of increase in producer income and improvement in his livelihood. The 2014 producer survey

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carried out in Mpanga coupled with individual interviews held with some key producers in June 2015 revealed that generally producers’ income has improved significantly over the period. Kwezi Dismus, one of the oldest producers of Mpanga, commenting on the improvement in producers’ income and livelihood said, “Today a farmer cannot fail to pay his children’s school fees.” As a matter of fact, most producers were able to see their children through education. A good number of them have put up their own residential accommodation and continue to supply the basic needs of their families. They submitted that they were able to make it through life as a result of the continuous support from Mpanga Growers Tea Factory. They applauded Mpanga and their partners for supporting them with inputs and extension services, which have enabled them to increase production and yield over the years and to make good income.

The testimony of Miramaso Stephen, a 71 year old producer of Mpanga, was much revealing. He has been a producer of Mpanga since 1996 and has seven hectares of tea gardens. He supplies between 2,500kgs and 3,000kgs of green leafs to Mpanga every season. He stated that the regular supply of fertilisers and other inputs from Mpanga have been the major contributing factors to his success. He pointed out that the cost of inputs kept rising and most of them wouldn’t have been able to afford them without the support of Mpanga. He further indicated that he has been able to make very good income, which enabled him to take care of the educational needs of his children. He supported his daughter to complete her degree in laboratory technology. One other child has also successfully completed a university level training in mechanical engineering and has been employed by a cement manufacturing company; another one was trained as a teacher. He revealed that he was still financing the education of one more child who was in his third year at the medical school. His continuous investment in the education of his children is a proof of sustained growth income and livelihood improvement.

Over the years, Mpanga have carried out several community development projects that have impacted on the livelihood of thousands of people in the Kabarole District of Western Uganda.

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Mpanga has established three clinics and one maternity unit which provide health care to their workers and community members. The Kasunga clinic was acquired in 2007 and serves the workers of Kasunga Tea Estate and its surrounding communities. The Factory Clinic was established in 2009 to provide health care services to factory workers as well as community members. The third clinic is located at the Kibale Tea Estate and has been providing primary health care to the estate workers and other community members in the catchment area since 2010. Each clinic has a nurse and a visiting doctor who comes around once a week.

Furthermore, Mpanga have constructed shallow wells in seven communities between 2007 and 2011. This was to increase access to water for community members. These shallow wells brought a great relief to the beneficiaries, who no longer walk long distances to access water for domestic use. Similarly, Mpanga since 2005, have dug a total of 23 latrines in 12 different communities as part of their effort to promote hygiene and sanitation in the respective beneficiary communities. These interventions have helped control the spread of diseases such as cholera.

In addition, Mpanga have been undertaking regular maintenance of community roads to enhance transportation of farm produce and to facilitate easy movement of people within the various communities. The organisation has also been supporting educational institutions by constructing bungalows for housing their staffs and by providing them with items such as teaching and learning materials, roofing sheets and furniture.

The major environmental impact intervention of Mpanga has been in the area of forest expansion and conservation. The organisation acquired in 2007 a 93 hectare forest, which was part of the Kasunga estate. This vast stretch of forest has been preserved throughout these years. Mpanga has expanded the forest by adding an extra 24 hectare forest essentially made of eucalyptus trees, which normally provide fuel wood to the factory. Though the factory depends heavily on this forest for fuel wood, the regular planting of trees has helped rejuvenate and expand it in a sustainable manner. The Kasunga forest reserve has contributed to bio-diversity conservation and to the mitigation of the effects of climate change on production of tea and other crops in Kasunga and its environs.

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Mpanga continued to train producers on environmentally friendly farming practices for a sustainable agriculture. They also undertake climate change awareness campaigns and build the capacity of their producers on climate change mitigation strategies to improve yield. These interventions have led to the minimisation of the effects of climate change on production and to the conservation of the environment.

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