****Funded by the Danish Fellowship Centre under Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NbS4Tea is a five-year initiative aimed at enhancing climate resilience and tea productivity in Uganda.

Launch of drones for data collection

The Nature-based Solutions for Tea (NbS4Tea) project has registered a significant milestone with the successful deployment of drones to improve environmental and agricultural data collection.

On 19^th June 2025, the project team officially launched the drones at the Rwebitaba Tea Research Centre in Kyenjojo District, the project’s main research hub. The launch event included hands-on training sessions by Mr. Timothy Mutungi, a certified Remote Sensing Drone Pilot. Mr. Mutungi provided detailed instruction on drone operation, safety procedures, and data acquisition techniques specifically tailored to the project’s goals. The training was attended the core NbS4Tea researchers as well as students supported by the project.

By utilizing drone technology, the team will be able to capture high-resolution imagery and gather critical environmental data across vast tea-growing areas. This will enable more precise assessments of biodiversity, soil health, water use, and overall ecosystem services. The valuable insights generated will guide the development of sustainable, nature-based agricultural practices with the potential for widespread adoption throughout the tea industry.

About the NbS4Tea Project

NbS4Tea is a five-year initiative aimed at enhancing climate resilience and tea productivity in Uganda. Funded by the Danish Fellowship Centre under Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and led by Dr Emmanuel Arthur from Aarhus University, the project is being implemented through a consortium of Ugandan and Danish institutions namely: Makerere University, the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Uganda, Uganda Tea Association, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Kick-start International.

The primary objective of the project is to sustainably close the tea yield gap in Uganda by developing research-driven, nature-based solutions that enhance the climate resilience of tea production systems. This involves identifying climate-resilient tea varieties, integrating tea prunings and banana by-products, utilizing nitrogen-fixing agroforestry trees, and improving irrigation management. The approach emphasizes socio-economic feasibility, capacity building in research, and a market-oriented, multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure both environmental and economic sustainability.

At Makerere University, the project is coordinated by Dr Alex Nimusiima from the Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics and Climatic Sciences at CAES. Other Project members are; Dr Grace Nakabonge from the Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism; Dr Prossy Nakawuka from the Department of Agricultural and Bio-systems Engineering; Dr Twaha Ali Basamba from the Department of Agricultural Production; and Dr Alice Turinawe from the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics.

Specific objectives

1. Identify and quantify climate change impacts on tea yield and quality based on historical and newly obtained data and novel data mining methods.
2. Screen, select and recommend tea varieties adapted to abiotic (drought and heat) and biotic stresses (diseases and pests).
3. Develop new knowledge on the potential of local waste biomass (tea prunings, banana pseudostems and peels) as soil amendments- mulch, compost, biochar, to recycle nutrients, improve soil fertility, increase carbon sequestration and alleviate drought.
4. Reveal NbS through agroforestry combined with organic mulch, irrigation and resilient tea varieties that increase biodiversity and tea yield.
5. Innovate new methods to enhance tea production under climate change through rainwater harvest and climate-smart irrigation infrastructure.
6. Empower vulnerable groups (women, youth, and people with disabilities) in tea production and processing to ensure multi-actor involvement and socio-economic benefit outreach of the proposed NbS in tea cultivation and production.
7. Identify export market strategies for NbS tea products, aligned with consumer preferences.

Progress thus far

Launched in January 2024, the project, organized in five work packages, has registered significant progress. Each of the work packages listed below supports one PhD student and one Masters’ student. The PhD students are: i) Mr. Adiga Hassan from the Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics and Climatic Sciences at CAES conducting research under work package 1; ii) Ms. Sarah Namayengo from the Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism conducting research under work package 2; Ms. Vivian Namutebi from the Department of Soil Science and Land Use Management undertaking research on work package 3; Mr. Keneth Chelimo from the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering conducting his research under work package 4; and Ms. Moreen Asasira from the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics focusing on work package 5. The Masters students are: i) Ms. Evelyn Katasi from the Department of Environmental Management at CAES (work package 1), Mr. Vereriano Turyahebwa from Department of Forestry, Biodiversity and Tourism (work package 2); Mr. Ben Okurut from the Department of Soil Science and Land Use Management (work package 3); Mr. Augustine Okot from the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (work package 4); and Mr. Augustine Kigozi from the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics (work package 5)

Work packages and achievements registered

Work Package 1: Climate change impacts on tea yield and quality – Headed by Dr. Alex Nimusiima

This work package centres on the analysis of historical and projected climate conditions in the study area. It examines how current climate patterns influence tea production, as well as the potential effects of future climate change on tea yield and quality.

Progress
i) A household survey assessing the socio-economic status of tea farmers and the effects of climate variability on their livelihoods has been completed.
ii) The collected data has been cleaned, and the Masters student supported under this work package is currently writing her thesis based on the survey findings.
iii) A historical climate analysis of the study area has been conducted by the PhD student, who is now preparing a manuscript.

Work Package 2: Screening & selecting tea genotypes for resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses – Headed by Assoc. Prof. Grace Nakabonge

This work package focuses on evaluating existing tea genotypes for their resistance to pests and diseases, using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging as a diagnostic tool.

Progress

1. i) A screen house has been constructed to serve as the experimental site.
2. ii) Germplasm from two tea varieties is currently being cultivated in the screen house in preparation for the upcoming experiments.

iii) A drone has been acquired to assist in data collection for this work package.

Work Package 3: Evaluation of NbS for climate resilience, higher yield and biodiversity- Headed by Assoc. Prof. Twaha Ali Basamba

This focuses on the characterization of mulch and biochar derived from tea prunings to improve soil health. It also aims to quantify the added value of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in enhancing tea productivity, promoting climate resilience, and supporting biodiversity.

Progress

1. So far, Biochar has been produced from tea prunings and characterized.
2. The Masters student supported under this work package is writing his thesis on the results of biochar characterization.

Work Package 4: Innovating smart and scalable irrigation technology for improved tea production- Headed by Dr. Prossie Nakawuka

This work package aims to develop and evaluate smart, scalable irrigation solutions to boost tea production. It focuses on assessing how irrigation impacts tea yield and quality, measuring water use efficiency, and analyzing the economic returns of irrigation practices. Additionally, it explores deficit irrigation and climate-resilient strategies to ensure sustainable tea farming in changing environmental conditions.

Progress

1. The irrigation infrastructure is now in place and fully operational at Rwebitaba Tea Research Centre in Kyenjojo District.
2. The experimental plots for irrigation experiments are already in place with water pipes.

Work package 5: Socio-economic assessment of tea-agroforestry and selected tea varieties – Headed by Dr. Alice Turinawe

This work package emphasizes co-creation within multi-stakeholder innovation networks to evaluate the economic feasibility and market access of tea agroforestry systems. It also focuses on promoting gender balance and understanding consumer valuation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) tea from Uganda.

Progress

To date, two co-creation workshops have been successfully conducted and the Masters student under this work package is currently analyzing the workshop results as part of their research.

Expected outputs and outcomes

1. Increased tea production, productivity, and biodiversity through the adoption of NbS.
2. Increased research and technical capacity of Makerere and R-ZARDI.
3. Holistic stakeholder insight on economic feasibility, consumer acceptance and market access strategies, especially for vulnerable groups in the tea value chain.
4. Increased job prospects for youth and women in tea production sub-sectors.
5. Improved social status and increased incomes of tea farmers, traders, and exporters.
6. Improved economic and environmental quality by recycling biomass waste into value-added products dedicated to soil enhancement.
7. 4+ high-yielding tea genotypes adapted to drought and heat, diseases and pests.
8. 15+ scientific articles, conference presentations.
9. Five PhDs and Five MSc degrees.
10. Market access assessment and empowerment.

Details on the project: https://news.mak.ac.ug/2024/01/new-caes-project-to-improve-tea-production-in-uganda/