这些因素正在影响这乌干达茶叶工业

In June this year, the 4th African Tea Convention & Exhibition was held in Kampala, Uganda. Included in the line-up was a session on climate change. A global concern, it is of particular significance in Uganda where cash crops contribute significantly to the economy. Tea follows coffee and fish as leading exports from Uganda, employing more than 68,000 people directly and supporting the livelihood of at least one million.

今年6月，第四届非洲茶叶论坛（African Tea Convention & Exhibition）在乌干达坎帕拉举办，论坛主题之一便是气候变化。作为一项全球性问题，气候变化对乌干达经济作物的影响尤为显著。茶是继咖啡、渔业之后乌干达第三大出口产品，直接从业人口超过68000人，关系到至少100万人的生计。

In 2011, a report by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), based in Columbia stated that if average temperatures rose by 2.3 degrees Celsius, as was expected, Uganda’s tea producing areas would see declines in production by 2020. And now, as 2020 approaches, the decline has begun. Temperatures are steadily increasing and rainfall is erratic. The latter is of particular interest to agriculturists, and the tea industry in a country that depends on agriculture and cash crops for its economy. With warmer climate comes increased precipitation during the dry season of December, January, and February. Projected precipitation is between -2% and +22%, with an increase in rainfall in the north and a decrease in the southeast. But an increase in rain during dry season affects perennial crops directly but all crops in post-harvest activities.

2011年，一份国际热带农业中心（CIAT）出具的报告显示，如果平均气温提高2.3℃，乌干达现有的茶叶产区产量将在2020年锐减。而随着2020年逐渐临近，这一下降趋势已经日趋明显。气温在持续升高，降水开始变得愈发不稳定。而后者更是引起了农业学家和茶工业人士的高度关注，尤其是在一个高度依赖农业和经济作物的国家来说。随着气候变暖，12月，1月和2月的旱季降水量增加。预计降雨量在-2%到+22%之间，并且北部的降雨量增加，而东南部的降雨量减少。但是在旱季增加降雨量会直接影响常年作物在采摘后的加工处理过程。

Of course, Uganda’s tea farmers have been well aware of the situation and have been trying to take steps to mitigate it. The Producers’ Foundation is educating growers about more resilient tea varieties, improving on-farm practices and encouraging its members to introduce appropriate practices as well, such as reforesting hillsides and protecting water sources.

当然，乌干达的茶农很清楚这种情况，并一直试图采取措施来缓解它。生产者基金会（Producers’ Foundation) 正在对种植者进行培训，推广抗性较强的茶树种，改善种植技术，鼓励成员采纳合理种植方法，例如退耕还林、保护水资源等。

The Kayonza Growers Tea Factory is a for profit community initiative in southwestern Uganda. In 2015, the group won the UNDP’s Equator Prize for Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change and Sustainable Livelihoods. Following the award, Gregory Mugabe, chairman of Kayonza’s board of directors said, “We started the climate change adaptation and mitigation among farmers in 2010 after our area experienced prolonged drought and destructive rainfall, which affected both food crops and tea farms. What made us win the award is how we integrated climate strategies in our tea farming systems.” In January this year, the Kayonza Growers Tea Factory earned the Rainforest Alliance certification, the first indigenous Ugandan institution to get this certificate, opening its access to international markets.

Kayonza Growers Tea Factory 致力于保护乌干达西南地区居民利益。2015年，该组织获得了联合国开发计划署（UNDP）的“赤道适应气候变化和可持续发展社区奖”（Equator Prize for Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change and Sustainable Livelihoods）。获奖之后，Kayonza董事会主席Gregory Mugabe表示：“2010年，我们的地区经历了长时间的干旱和破坏性降雨，导致粮食作物与茶园都受到了影响，在那之后我们在农民中开展了适应和缓解气候变化的工作。我们能够获得此奖项，是由于我们将气候策略整合到了我们的茶园种植系统中。今年1月，Kayonza Growers Tea Factory获得了雨林联盟（Rainforest Alliance）的认证，这是乌干达第一个获得该认证的组织，从而打开了其进入国际市场的大门。”

Much of the tea growing areas have traditionally been concentrated in the west and the southern regions, in the sub-regions of Buganda, Ankole, Kigezi, Toro, Bugisu and Busoga. In the recent past, Uganda’s resident tea expert Edwin Atukunda advocates the development of the northern parts of the country as tea growing areas. He introduced tea farming in Acholi in 2018, and has been working towards aggressively propagating tea growing in the north. The Edwin Foundation Tea Initiative offers tea seedlings for farmers and their website states that thousands of seedlings will be ready for transplanting with the first rains in April 2020. These northern areas, which are more used to growing food crops, struggle to take to cash crops like tea and coffee. But that is only part of the problem.

传统的茶叶种植集中在乌干达的西部和南部地区，包括布干达（Buganda）、安科累（Ankole）、基杰奇（Kigezi）、土柔（Toro）、布吉苏（Bugisu）和布索加（Busoga）等区域。近些年，乌干达茶叶专家Edwin Atukunda主张将该国北部地区开发成茶叶种植区。他于2018年在阿乔丽（Acholi）引进了茶叶种植， 并一直致力于在北部地区搭理推广茶叶种植。Edwin Foundation Tea Initiative为种植者提供茶树种子，据官网显示，到2020年4月初雨，将有上千颗茶树苗可备移栽。北部地区更习惯于种植粮食作物，很难种植像茶和咖啡这样的经济作物，但这只是问题的一部分。

Concerns remain on whether the land, no doubt fertile and suited for growing tea is sustaining the changes that are afoot. Beatrice Lajara Kumago, the Coordinator for the Gulu and Omoro Districts Farmer Associations had expressed concerns that tea farming in northern Uganda comes with big challenges as the region once enjoyed heavy rains but now sees only intermittent rainfall because of forest degradation in the past decade. Southern Uganda enjoys two monsoons, the long rains between March-May and the short rains over November and early December. But northern Uganda receives a single monsoon between April and October. This year has brought average to above-average rainfall which has supported agriculture but already food crops are in shortfall as planting was delayed in northeastern Uganda.

更有人对该地区土地肥沃程度和适宜茶树生长环境的可持续性表示怀疑。Gulu、Omoro地区种植者联盟（Districts Farmer Associations）负责人Beatrice Lajara Kumago表示，乌干达北部地区的茶叶种植同样面临着巨大的挑战，因为该地区过去曾降水丰富，但由于森林退化，近10年的降水骤减。乌干达的南部地区每年会迎来两次季风，每年3-5月降雨较为集中，11-12月初也有少量降雨。但乌干达北部每年只有在4-10月之间的有季风。今年的平均降水量有所增加，这有助于农业，但由于种植季节时间滞后，粮食作物已经出现短缺。

Similar problems are being faced in the Indian tea regions as well. In the Assam valley, which produces 17% of the world’s tea, the annual monsoon is now competing with heavy wet spells, causing waterlogging and root rot.

印度的茶叶产区也面临着同样的问题，在产茶量占全球17%的阿萨姆山谷，每年的季风再叠加大量的降雨，导致了涝渍和根腐病。

Uganda’s unique location >’s main estate crop. It is believed Uganda has only exploited about 10% of its potential for cultivating tea with about 44,000 hectares of land under tea. A further 200,000 hectares is both available and suitable for tea. The industry is about 100 years old and Uganda ranks 12th among tea producers globally, and follows Kenya in second place among East and Central African tea producers. In 2018, Uganda produced 71,500 metric tons with this estimated to grow to 110,000 metric tons by 2021. Uganda primarily relies on tea exports, with only 5% of production consumed domestically.

乌干达位于赤道，气候条件非常适宜茶树生长，每年有2次雨季。茶树是于1900年引入乌干达的，到20世纪50年代中期已经成为了乌干达的主要经济作物。据称乌干达只开发了10%的茶叶种植产地，茶叶种植面积约为4.4万公顷。仍有20万公顷土地具有开发潜力。乌干达的茶叶种植历史有将近100年，目前排名世界茶叶原产国第12位，紧随肯尼亚之后，是东非和中非地区第二大茶叶原产国。2018年，乌干达茶叶产量为71500立方吨，到2021年有望达到11万吨。乌干达的茶叶主要用于出口，仅有不到5%用于内销。