Assessing the sustainability of growing tea in East Africa under climate change and energy resource pressures.

茶是仅次于水的第二大受欢迎饮料，其种植支撑着全球社区的生计。茶叶的生态生理是指它对环境和气候因素非常敏感。气候变化已被发现对茶叶产量、收入和生计安全产生负面影响。这种关系意味着，长期的气候变化将影响东非茶叶生产的所有方面，那里预计将出现长期干旱和降水减少。社会环境变数进一步加剧了东非感受到的压力，那里的贫穷、高人口比率、土地使用变化和缺乏农村电气化往往导致砍伐Mombo林地。由于茶叶干燥是茶园最耗能的过程，主要依赖木质生物质的燃烧，社区和茶业对薪材的生物质提取存在竞争需求。众所周知，森林砍伐会改变陆地-大气的相互作用，并可能严重影响一个地区的小气候。其连锁反应可能是农业产量下降，农业和当地生计对气候冲击的复原力丧失。然而，目前尚不清楚是什么原因导致茶区土地利用变化和森林砍伐。文献表明，综合方法是解决现实世界可持续发展问题的理想办法，而且地方一级缺乏数据，对气候、茶叶生产、环境和生计之间的相互作用了解有限。因此，有必要评估潜在的工程和社会环境干预措施，以确保茶业对未来的气候冲击和环境压力具有弹性。该项目将努力填补这一信息空白。研究可能包括为茶叶干燥过程寻找替代能源，或开发社区微电网能源项目，以减少对生物质的需求。该项目将涉及与英国第三大茶叶制造商贝蒂斯和泰勒集团的合作。他们关注茶叶在社会环境变化下的长期生存能力，并越来越多地寻找机会来提高茶业及其种植者生计的适应能力和弹性。该项目的目的是使用新的方法来了解这个复杂的、动态的系统，在选定的茶叶种植区的局部规模上，跨越传统学科的界限，以混合方法的方法整合社会技术和环境分析。该项目将对东非的茶叶生产进行全面评估，以便为今后在适应气候变化的茶叶种植实践和能源改进方面的投资提供信息，以减轻剩余森林的压力。因此，减少了依赖茶叶的人的生计脆弱性。该项目将涉及：a)利用气候数据模拟了解选定区域的降水和温度预测趋势；b)利用森林覆盖变化遥感图像形式的地球观测数据；c)利用家庭调查、访谈和参与性方法收集定性数据，力求从不同角度了解社会生态过程和变化模式。

Tea is second most popular beverage after water and its cultivation supports the livelihoods of communities globally. The eco-physiology of tea means it is sensitive to environmental and climatic factors. Climate change has been found to negatively impact tea yield, revenue and livelihood security. This relationship implies that long term climate change will impact all aspects of the tea production in East Africa where prolonged periods of drought and reduced precipitation have been projected. Socio-environmental variables further compound pressures felt in East Africa where poverty, high population rates, land use change and a lack of rural electrification often lead to deforestation of miombo woodlands. There are competing demands for biomass extraction between communities and the tea industry for fuelwood, as tea leaf drying is the most energy intensive process on tea estates and predominantly relies upon the combustion of woody biomass. Deforestation is known to alter land-atmosphere interactions and can severely impact the micro-climate of a region. The knock-on effect of which, could be decreased agricultural yield and a loss of resiliency to climate shocks in terms of both agriculture and local livelihoods. However, it is unknown what is driving land use change and deforestation in tea cultivating regions. Literature suggests that an integrative approach is ideal for tackling real-world sustainability issues such as this and that there is a lack of data at the local level, with limited understanding of the interactions between climate, tea production, environment and livelihoods. It is therefore necessary to appraise potential engineering and social-environmental interventions to ensure the tea industry is resilient to future climate shocks and environmental pressures. This project will try to fill this information gap. Research may include seeking alternative energy sources for the tea leaf drying process or developing community micro-grid energy projects to reduce the demand for biomass. The project will involve collaboration with Bettys and Taylors Group, the 3rd largest tea manufacturers in the UK. They are concerned about the long-term viability of tea, under socio-environmental changes and are increasingly looking for opportunities to improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of both the tea industry and its growers' livelihoods.The aim of the project is to use novel approaches to understand this complex, dynamic system on a localised scale for a chosen tea cultivating area, crossing traditional discipline boundaries to integrate a socio-techno and environmental analysis in a mixed methods approach. The project will provide a holistic assessment of tea production in East Africa to inform future investment in climate-resilient tea cultivation practices and energy improvements to reduce the pressure on the remaining forests. Thus, reducing vulnerability to the livelihoods of those dependant on tea. This project will involve a) The use climate data simulations to understand the projected trends in precipitation and temperature for a chosen region b) The use of earth observation data in the form of remote sensing imagery of forest cover changes c) Qualitative data collection using household surveys, interviews and participatory methods, seeking to understand socio-ecological processes and patterns of change from different perspectives.