Office du Thé du Burundi
| OTB | |
Native name | Office du Thé du Burundi |
| Industry | Tea |
| Headquarters | , Burundi |
| Owner | Government of Burundi |
| Website | www |
The Burundi Tea Office (Office du Thé du Burundi, or OTB, is a public company that supports the tea industry in Burundi.
Background
[edit]Burundian tea is a high-altitude tea that has been cultivated since 1931 on the flanks of the high mountains of the Congo-Nile ridge. The tea gardens are planted at an altitude of 1,700 to 2,500 metres (5,600 to 8,200 ft). The favorable climate and environment guarantees quality that is comparable to Indian teas.[1]
History
[edit]The first tea cultivation trials in Burundi were set up at the Gisozi Agronomic Research Station in 1963. Large-scale tea growing was launched after Burundi gained independence in 1964. The OTB was created in 1971 to promote tea growing in Burundi and to assist in production and marketing of tea. The OTB was expected to supplement the income of tea growers and contribute substantially to the country's foreign exchange.[1]
The extension of tea cultivation outside the research station was carried out in state-owned industrial block plantations, and "village tea plantations" in family plots. The first industrial block plantations, each with a tea factory, were the 600 hectares (1,500 acres) Teza Tea Project started in 1963, 800 hectares (2,000 acres) Rwegura Tea Project started in 1966, 300 hectares (740 acres) Tora Tea Project started in 1969 and 300 hectares (740 acres) OTB Buhoro project started in 1987. Starting in 1969, high altitude tea plantations in the form of family plots were introduced in the regions surrounding the tea factories. By 2006 there were 2,010 hectares (5,000 acres) of industrial block plantation and 6,921 hectares (17,100 acres) of village plantations.[1]
Law no.1/20 of 28 September 2013 said the state would transfer all or part of its interests in a named group of companies with state participation, including OTB. The approach to privatization would be decided on a case by case basis.[2]
In July 2014 Ernest Mberamiheto, Minister of Good Governance and Privatization, answered questions in a National Assembly debate. Companies that had been recommended for privatization over a five-year period included the Moso Sugar Company (SOSUMO), the Public Real Estate Company (Société Immobilière Publique, the Imbo Regional Development Company (Société Régionale de Développement de l’Imbo), the Burundi Tea Office (Office du Thé du Burundi, OTB), the Equipment Rental Agency (ALM), COGERCO, the National Laboratory of Building and Public Works (Laboratoire National du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics, LNBTP) and ONATOUR. It was recommended that measures be put in place to prevent the assets of these companies being abused in the interim before privatization occurred.[3]
Notes
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Historique (in French), OTB, retrieved 2024-10-11
- Loi No1/20 du 28 septembre 2013 (PDF) (in French), Cabinet of the President, retrieved 2024-10-09
- Questions orales avec débat adressées au Ministre de la Bonne Gouvernance et la Privatisation (in French), National Assembly, July 2014, retrieved 2024-10-09