Billions for climate but tea pickers still go hungry across Rwanda

For decades, women have formed the backbone of the tea workforce in Rwanda, harvesting one of East Africa’s most valuable export crops. But as rainfall becomes increasingly unpredictable, many say climate change is steadily taking away both their work and their dignity.

For 70-year-old Uwamahirwe Venantie, tea picking has been her only source of income since she entered the fields at 18 in 1974. Age and heavy rains leave her too weak to work, while prolonged dry spells slow tea growth, reducing the amount she can harvest. Younger women may still collect between 30 and 50 kilograms of green leaves a day, but Venantie rarely exceeds 25 kilograms.

“Whether it rains heavily or the sun is too hot, I cannot go out to pick tea. When that happens, I lose the money I would have used to buy food. There was a time when I became seriously ill and couldn’t work for a long period. Even now, the money I earn is too little to change my life,” she says.

Munezero is another tea picker in western Rwanda who says climate change has gradually eroded the financial security that tea harvesting once provided.

 “There are days when the tea bushes produce very little because the weather has changed. When we harvest fewer kilograms, we earn less money, yet the cost of food, school fees, and other household expenses continues to rise. We depend entirely on tea picking, so whenever production falls, our families immediately feel the impact,” she says.

The experiences of these women reveal a common reality shared across the Rwanda. Although tea remains one of the region’s most important cash crops, climate change is steadily reducing the incomes of the workers who depend on it most.

Tea depends on stable rainfall and moderate temperatures but Across the highlands of Karongi and Rutsiro district in western of Rwanda, those conditions are becoming increasingly unreliable. Workers say prolonged droughts are increasingly followed by intense rainfall, disrupting tea growth and reducing the amount of green leaf available for harvest, Ukwishatse describes an almost identical struggle. “When the climate changes, you can go from harvesting 35 kilograms to only five or ten kilograms in a day. That means earning only a small amount of money, which cannot even buy a child’s notebook or enough food. Whenever climate-related problems reduce tea production, life simply comes to a standstill,” she says.

Tea pickers are paid according to the quantity of green leaves they harvest. In Rwanda, workers typically receive between RWF 70 and RWF 110 per kilogram. Across the 15 tea collection centers visited during this story, payments ranged from approximately US$0.03 to US$0.06 per kilogram, leaving workers extremely vulnerable whenever production falls. Unlike salaried employees, tea pickers have no guaranteed income when climate shocks reduce harvests.

Tea cooperatives acknowledge that low wages have become increasingly difficult for workers as climate change affects production.

Cooperatives know the issue but they are waiting for NAEB

Mr. Nshimiyimana Thacien, president of KOTEP Pfunda Cooperative, which represents tea farmers in Rwanda’s Rubavu, Nyabihu, and Rutsiro districts, says cooperatives try to supplement workers’ earnings whenever possible.

“The official payment to tea pickers is determined by NAEB. We try to add some money because if workers do not come, we lose harvests. But we have appealed for the official rates to be increased because workers’ living conditions are becoming increasingly difficult.”

Yet cooperative leaders admit they have limited financial capacity to cushion workers against climate shocks. The struggles of tea workers stand in sharp contrast to the scale of climate finance commitments made by Rwanda

Rwanda’s Climate and Nature Finance Strategy estimates the country requires US$11 billion to implement its climate commitments by 2030. The strategy also estimates that agriculture alone will require US$6.5 billion in investment through 2050, with approximately US$5.6 billion expected from private investors.

Both strategies prioritize climate-smart agriculture, irrigation, improved water management, agricultural insurance, and private investment as key adaptation measures. Yet tea workers interviewed in both countries say they continue to absorb the financial costs of climate change largely on their own.

Rwanda’s climate finance strategies specifically do not allocate funding to tea pickers or tea farmer cooperatives, Instead, investments are expected to strengthen agriculture through broader programs such as climate-smart farming, resilient irrigation systems, sustainable land management, and blended finance mechanisms. The gap between national commitments and the daily experiences of workers raises important questions about whether climate finance is reaching the people most vulnerable to increasingly erratic weather.

Seth Kwizera, Executive Director of the Economic Policy Research Network (ESPRN), says climate risks must be integrated into long-term economic planning.

“Climate change and conflicts continue to threaten national development. If Rwanda is to achieve Vision 2050 and the National Strategy for Transformation, there must be alternatives and contingency measures whenever these shocks occur. These are some of the issues researchers are currently examining.”

Government agencies say efforts are underway to identify solutions.

Alex Nkurunziza, an official at Rwanda’s National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), says the institution is conducting a study with the Monitoring and Analyzing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) program to identify reforms that could strengthen the tea sector.

“We are assessing the current challenges facing the tea sector and collecting ideas that will help improve tea production, trade, and processing. The findings will guide future interventions.”

Mukanyandwi Marie Louise