Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2019-07-19

Smallholder Tea and Rubber Revitalization Project - Implementation of the Rural Finance Component and obtaining the interest subsidy

- Agreements have been made by now, for the implementation of the Smallholder Tea and Rubber Revitalization Project on the contribution of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the Local Funds. The two main components of this project are the tea replanting and the rubber new planting. As such, the proposal made by the Minister of Plantation Industries to include a 'Rural Finance Component' in the project and implement it, as a source of self employment or a short term income generating activity to cover the lost income of the planters until such time tea plucking is done in the new replanted tea plantation as an old tea plantation where tea is plucked has to be removed for tea replanting and to generate certain income until such time that tapping is done in a new rubber plantation, was approved by the Cabinet.