MYANMAR - Myanmar’s tea producers are seeing increased productivity and better quality, and have a new processing factory since starting to work closely with GIZ (the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit). The partnership between Myanmar Tea Cluster, Palaung Tea Association and GIZ has meant progress in tea production, better technology and machinery, training and field trips for farmers. However, with low yields and consumption 100% higher than production, more work is needed to improve productivity.
There is apparently plenty of land available for cultivation but the number of gardens is small, planting methods are ineffective and high costs of production make Myanmar tea more expensive than teas from India and Nepal. Some farmers are leaving for Thailand and China and it is hoped that the training and technical support will encourage them to stay in Myanmar. The long term plan is to establish a model farm and model tea factories with the assistance of GIZ.