1. Background

Agriterra and CTCF have been cooperating in different fields since 2012. From its inception in 2010, CTCF has developed into an organization with 100 member cooperatives (representing more than 6,000 tea farmers) with a combined market share of 25% in the orthodox tea sector in Nepal. CTCF has become a strong and well-known federation both internally and in the fields of lobbying, advocacy, and service provision to its members.

The cooperation between Agriterra and CTCF in 2017 had an evaluative character. In recent years, many of CTCF's members have established tea processing factories. These members are increasingly demanding CTCF to assist them in marketing activities to sell the tea they produce. Most of the tea produced is being sold to middlemen at low prices.

An Agripool assignment was conducted in July 2018 to concretize the plan of establishing a Marketing Facilitation Desk (MFD) by CTCF to address the demands of its members. The tea experts facilitating the assignment found that the tea of Ilam is of high quality and can be sold in international markets. The MFD will focus on linking members' tea with national and international buyers through various promotional activities and attracting buyers to purchase cooperative tea.

The MFD will charge certain fees (10-15% of sales) from its members for tea linkage services, making the MFD self-sustainable by generating income. CTCF has planned to sell 1,500 kg of tea through the MFD during the period of October 2018 to December 2019.

2. Project Activities

• Develop a 3-Year Strategic Plan for the Market Facilitation Desk
• Develop a vacancy and conduct interviews to hire a Marketing Coordinator.
• Hire one Marketing Coordinator for 15 months.
• Collect and write stories of primary cooperatives and farmers.
• Update the CTCF website and create ICT mapping.
• Update CTCF’s social media (Facebook, Instagram).
• Set up a tasting room in CTCF Nepal.
• Conduct meetings with 15 processing cooperatives to develop a coalition.
• Create a database of 100 tea buyers.
• Organize quality and hygiene training for 15 coalition cooperatives.
• Participate in a tea expo in India.
• Collect and dispatch tea samples to 10 potential international buyers.
• Meet with tea traders in Kathmandu.
• Meet with chain stores and restaurants.Provide factory record-keeping training to 15 processing cooperatives.

3. Lobby and Acquisition

• Meet with Agriterra and other agencies for joint acquisition planning.
• Participate in two meetings on NCDPP.
• Organize consultative workshops and participatory research with 15 primary cooperatives using the FACT approach.
• Hire a consultant to develop a policy paper.
• Submit a policy proposal to NTCDB and MOF.
• Hold a review meeting with NTCDB and related stakeholders to get updates on the "Nepal Tea" trademark.

4. Services by Agriterra

Advice

1. Develop a 3-year strategic plan for the Market Facilitation Desk.
2. Conduct an Agripool assignment for branding and positioning strategy.

Training

1. Provide marketing basics training.

5. Award Received From Agriterra