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最受欢迎的饮料，它的种植支持着全球社区的生计。茶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各个方面，预计东非将出现长期干旱和降水减少。社会环境变量进一步加剧了东非的压力，在那里，贫穷、高人口比率、土地利用变化和缺乏农村电气化往往导致对miombo林地的砍伐。由于茶叶干燥是茶园能源最密集的过程，主要依赖于木质生物质的燃烧，因此社区和茶业之间对生物质提取的需求存在竞争。众所周知，森林砍伐会改变陆地-大气相互作用，并可能严重影响一个地区的小气候。其连锁效应可能是农业产量下降，农业和当地生计丧失对气候冲击的抵御能力。然而，目前尚不清楚是什么导致了茶叶种植区的土地利用变化和森林砍伐。文献表明，综合方法是解决诸如此类的现实世界可持续性问题的理想方法，而且缺乏地方层面的数据，对气候、茶叶生产、环境和生计之间相互作用的理解有限。因此，有必要评估潜在的工程和社会环境干预措施，以确保茶业能够适应未来的气候冲击和环境压力。这个项目将试图填补这一信息空白。研究可能包括为茶叶干燥过程寻找替代能源或发展社区微电网能源项目以减少对生物质的需求。该项目将与英国第三大茶叶制造商贝蒂和泰勒集团合作。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恢复力。该项目的目的是使用新颖的方法来理解这个复杂的、动态的系统，在一个选定的茶叶种植区的局部规模上，跨越传统的学科界限，以混合的方法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，为未来对气候适应型茶叶种植方法的投资和能源改善提供信息，以减少对剩余森林的压力。因此，减少了那些依赖茶叶的人对生计的脆弱性。该项目将涉及a)使用气候数据模拟来了解选定地区降水和温度的预测趋势b)使用森林覆盖变化遥感图像形式的地球观测数据c)使用家庭调查、访谈和参与式方法收集定性数据，寻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.