0:00:08 > 0:00:12A lovely cup of tea - what could be more British?
0:00:12 > 0:00:15We drink millions of cups of the stuff every day.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19But how much do we know about where it really comes from?
0:00:19 > 0:00:22I'm travelling more than 1,000 miles across East Africa
0:00:22 > 0:00:25to meet the people who supply us with our national drink.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27Behind each cup is an army
0:00:27 > 0:00:30of pickers, packers, growers and truckers.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Is that...
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Sam, you just missed the basket!
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Tea's a massive industry employing millions of people
0:00:40 > 0:00:42but, as I travel the tea trail,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44I find a darker side to many of their lives.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46There is a real edge to this place.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51A tea plantation worker, it's a tough life.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55My journey takes me across East Africa's vast tea-growing region,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58through a land that's been transformed.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59Look at this.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Tea!
0:01:01 > 0:01:04What more evidence could you have of a changing world?
0:01:04 > 0:01:08I'm sitting here, I've got a mug of tea and a chapati.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11I'm following the tea trail.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32My journey starts on the coast of Kenya,
0:01:32 > 0:01:34in the port city of Mombasa.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40For centuries, it was known as a trading centre
0:01:40 > 0:01:42for slaves, gold and spices.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48The reason I'm starting my journey here rather than in India,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51where huge quantities of tea is still grown,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54or China, where tea originates from,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58is because East Africa is where most of the tea we drink in Britain
0:01:58 > 0:02:00actually comes from.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Mombasa is now one of the world's main hubs for the global tea trade.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09More than half the tea we drink in Britain,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11our breakfast teabags, our builders' tea,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15comes from East Africa and it comes through this city.
0:02:15 > 0:02:16It's known as black tea.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Can I join you, gentlemen?
0:02:18 > 0:02:19The locals love it, too.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Just over here, this is Mama Asha.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25She is the woman who keeps the market going
0:02:25 > 0:02:28by providing all the stallholders with copious quantities of tea.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32I'm going to start as I mean to go on and have a cup.
0:02:32 > 0:02:33Thank you, Mama Asha.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Have you ever seen such a thing?
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Hot tea into a plastic bag.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44And that's a takeaway tea?
0:02:45 > 0:02:47This city has played a vital role
0:02:47 > 0:02:50in the story of our precious British cuppa.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00There's a reason that Mombasa is the centre of the Kenyan tea trade
0:03:00 > 0:03:03and it's in a room up here. It's the auction...
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Well, it's the most important auction for black tea in the world.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11- 225?- 220.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13290. Any better?
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Tea from nine East African countries is sold here,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21making Kenya the world's biggest tea exporter.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24There's some serious business going on here.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Charles Kibandi is a tea broker who sells it every week.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35How much money are you hoping to make from your tea today?
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- Have you got any... Can you give us an idea?- A figure?- Mm.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40I'll be happy if I can get up to 2 million.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43- 2 million?- Yes.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47The whole auction today has about seven million kilos of tea on offer.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49If you take an average of about 2.50, you're talking...
0:03:49 > 0:03:51What? About 17 million.
0:03:52 > 0:03:53Right.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03Representatives of most of our big supermarkets are here in the room.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06We have a bid in.
0:04:06 > 0:04:07225?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15A third of all the tea we drink in the UK
0:04:15 > 0:04:17is bought and sold at this auction.,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20tens of thousands of tonnes of the stuff.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22There are rules, there's protocols,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24there's a language that they use
0:04:24 > 0:04:27that's pretty impenetrable to me as an outsider,
0:04:27 > 0:04:33but, make no mistake, what happens here involves vast sums of money
0:04:33 > 0:04:37and has a direct impact on what you pay for a pack of tea
0:04:37 > 0:04:40in a supermarket in Britain.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42BROKERS SHOUT
0:04:42 > 0:04:44I'm out. I'm out.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04Once it's sold at auction, our tea is shipped out of Mombasa,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06East Africa's biggest port.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Around half a million tonnes of black tea
0:05:08 > 0:05:11is exported from here every year.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13This has already been loaded
0:05:13 > 0:05:16with dozens of shipping containers packed with tea.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21These anonymous boxes would soon arrive in Britain.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Like so much of our stuff, we know so little about where it comes from.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31This is really the end of a funnel, almost,
0:05:31 > 0:05:36that brings tea from across East Africa here to the port.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39In many ways, it's the end of the line.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42We need to head back up that line, up that road,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44to find out where it's come from.
0:05:46 > 0:05:47Following the tea trail to find out
0:05:47 > 0:05:51would take me on a journey across East Africa's tea-growing region.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Tea isn't actually grown anywhere near Mombasa.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56It's far too dry around here.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59In fact, most of Kenya is far too dry.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02To get to any of the major tea-growing areas,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05I need to head inland and uphill,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07and I'm going to take a train.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13Hello, sir. Jambo.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15Thank you.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I do love travelling by train
0:06:20 > 0:06:22but I have got a slightly sinking feeling about this one
0:06:22 > 0:06:27because it just looks like a train that perhaps might not leave
0:06:27 > 0:06:28or even arrive on time.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33It doesn't also help that its nickname is the Lunatic Line.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39Oh.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Hey! Oh... This is...
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Yeah. No, that's OK.
0:06:42 > 0:06:43This is me.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45A little sink.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47It claims to have drinking water.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Some sort of air conditioning.
0:06:49 > 0:06:50All right.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52It's a line that's down on its luck,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54but I'm sure it'll get us there eventually.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00A couple of hours late, we started to roll.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02- Bye-bye.- Bye!
0:07:08 > 0:07:12The train trundles along reassuringly slowly.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Apparently, it avoids the risk of derailment,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18which has been a problem in the past.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Anyway, I've got some bedding.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It is going to be a long night, I think.
0:07:25 > 0:07:26That's not too bad.
0:07:28 > 0:07:29See you in the morning.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40It's a bit neglected today,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43but this railway played a central role in the story of our tea.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50The line was built by the British
0:07:50 > 0:07:53as a colonial, imperial and strategic project.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It was designed to help the Brits control the region
0:07:56 > 0:07:59and enable them to project power towards the heart of Africa.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Eventually, the line stretched all the way from Mombasa to the Nile,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08a distance of 580 miles.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It came to be known as the Lunatic Line
0:08:15 > 0:08:17because it was prohibitively expensive
0:08:17 > 0:08:20but also because a horrifying number of workers died
0:08:20 > 0:08:22while it was being built.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24More than 2,500.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28That's more than four per mile of track.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Most of them died because of accidents
0:08:30 > 0:08:32and because of diseases like malaria,
0:08:32 > 0:08:36but a large number died because of lion attacks.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The line opened up Kenya to British settlers,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50who were encouraged to come out here to colonise and farm the land.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56In 1903, one of them brought a packet of tea seeds from India.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59It was the beginning of the Kenyan tea industry.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03The landscape's changed a bit.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08We're just coming into the edge of Nairobi now, the capital.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13It seems to be dominated by a shanty town slum, really.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18People picking through rubbish by the side of the tracks.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22We're going to hop into a car
0:09:22 > 0:09:24and head up into the hills.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44By the early 1900s, thousands of settlers had moved over here.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46And, of course, they were guaranteed,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48they were promised land here,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52and often they got the very best land, the most fertile land.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Outside Nairobi is what used to be called the White Highlands,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02where many British and European settlers established farms.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Fiona Vernon is the granddaughter
0:10:04 > 0:10:06of one of Kenya's earliest British settlers.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18When did your family come here?
0:10:18 > 0:10:20My grandfather came in 1906
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and my grandmother then came two years later.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25And they were married in Mombasa Cathedral
0:10:25 > 0:10:26literally the day she arrived
0:10:26 > 0:10:29because he was frightened she might change her mind.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34A warm climate and regular rainfall
0:10:34 > 0:10:37made the highlands of Kenya ideal for farming tea.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41Fiona's family came here from Essex,
0:10:41 > 0:10:43drawn by the promise of a new life.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Is it cheeky to ask to see the photo album?
0:10:46 > 0:10:47No, do, have a look.
0:10:49 > 0:10:50So that's Grandpa.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53That's it, the starter of it all.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Fiona's grandfather bought this plot of land from the colonial government
0:10:57 > 0:11:01and soon after became Kenya's very first commercial tea grower.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Life as a settler could be tough,
0:11:06 > 0:11:07but wasn't without its rewards.
0:11:09 > 0:11:15I mean, clearly, here, there is the keeping up of British traditions
0:11:15 > 0:11:20and British civilisation in its colonial sense, isn't there?
0:11:20 > 0:11:21That's right.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24Clearly, they wanted to keep a little bit of the old country.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- Absolutely. This is the original house.- This is this house here?
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The first house was eaten by termites.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Christmas 1922.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37On safari, family on safari.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38The first XI hockey team.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41By the time life had reached your generation,
0:11:41 > 0:11:43did you have a first XI hockey team?
0:11:43 > 0:11:44Oh, we did.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53The British introduced huge tea plantations
0:11:53 > 0:11:56and strict, often brutal, colonial rule.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59There were some benefits.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04The tea industry provided work for thousands of pickers.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09The British fought famine and disease
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and helped to bring an end to the slave trade
0:12:11 > 0:12:13that had blighted the region for centuries.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And, meanwhile, Kenya's tea industry boomed.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21By 1946, the area farmed for tea had grown from next to nothing
0:12:21 > 0:12:24to more than 16,000 acres.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27It gave Fiona's family the means
0:12:27 > 0:12:30to maintain a comfortable colonial lifestyle.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36Can you imagine your family history without tea?
0:12:36 > 0:12:37No.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38No.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40It's just been the crux of every...
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Well, it's kept everything, everybody here. Yeah.
0:12:42 > 0:12:43The four girls.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46Because my mother was the eldest, so she inherited the farm,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49but her sisters were given land as a wedding present,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52so it has kept the whole family together.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Do you feel a sense of privilege as a result?
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Do you feel like it... Or has it been very hard work?
0:12:57 > 0:12:59No, I do. I feel we're very privileged.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01We're very blessed. Yeah.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08There was a ready market for Kenyan tea back in Britain.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Between 1900 and the 1930s,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15consumption almost doubled to 200,000 tonnes a year.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Britain went mad for tea.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24But British domination of the African tea trade
0:13:24 > 0:13:26couldn't last forever.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31In Kenya, the British had seized 7.5 million acres
0:13:31 > 0:13:32for white settlers,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36driving thousands of Africans out of their homes and off their land.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Discontent with colonial rule had rumbled on for decades.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Finally, it exploded.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53In the 1950s, a bloody revolt began against white rule.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56The Brits called it the Mau Mau Rebellion.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01This cave was one of the places where the so-called Mau Mau fighters
0:14:01 > 0:14:04would lay up, hide during the day
0:14:04 > 0:14:09and then emerge at night to attack white settlers and white farms.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11At one point, apparently,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16there were 250 of them in this cave system.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19The Mau Mau were guerrilla insurgents
0:14:19 > 0:14:21who took up arms against the British.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29Wambugu Wa Nyingi was a farm worker who became a political activist.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- TRANSLATION:- We were fighting for the independence of our country
0:14:37 > 0:14:40because we were being exploited by the settlers.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Life for us working on the farms couldn't have been worse.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We all had to work from 5am to 5pm.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54Even my own young child had to work.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56They worked us like slaves.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05The Mau Mau killed hundreds of African tribal leaders
0:15:05 > 0:15:07and elders they accused of collaborating
0:15:07 > 0:15:09with the British authorities.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14White farmers and their families were also murdered.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20The British said the Mau Mau were terrorists.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27- TRANSLATION:- We weren't terrorists. We were never anything like that.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29They gave us the name Mau Mau.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34They wanted to steal the country away from us.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36They came here with their rules and their jails.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45The British reaction was brutal and ham-fisted.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47The army tried to crush the rebels.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53It's estimated that between 11,000 and more than 100,000 Kenyans
0:15:53 > 0:15:54were killed.
0:15:56 > 0:16:0060 British soldiers lost their lives.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03British tactics included collective punishment for entire families
0:16:03 > 0:16:06and communities suspected of supporting the Mau Mau.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Thousands were detained.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Wambugu was arrested at his home,
0:16:17 > 0:16:22held without charge for almost a decade and repeatedly tortured.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24- TRANSLATION:- It was about 10 o'clock in the morning.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27We were let out of our cells.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30We were told to stand by the roadside in a line.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Then they started beating us.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41We were given a terrible beating.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Some men were beaten to death.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49I saw two people I shared a cell with beaten to death.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Then, after that, I was beaten.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53I was hit from behind on the head.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59They hit me so hard, I didn't feel anything else, I just collapsed.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05When I woke up, I found myself in a mortuary.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07I woke up surrounded by corpses.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Between 1952 and 1960,
0:17:16 > 0:17:21tens of thousands of Kenyans were held inside British detention camps.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Often they had no connection to the revolt.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27People were subjected to torture, rape and mutilation.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Many died from disease and starvation.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Wobogo's one of a number of Kenyans
0:17:33 > 0:17:35who've recently been paid compensation by Britain
0:17:35 > 0:17:39for his treatment, but other claims are still outstanding.
0:17:39 > 0:17:45The British government has recently expressed regret
0:17:45 > 0:17:47for what happened to you.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49How do you feel about that?
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Are you happy with what they've said. Is it enough?
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- TRANSLATION:- I think it was good for them to say that.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00By apologising to us, we felt more human.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04We felt like people again.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18In 1963, nearly 70 years of colonial rule came to an end
0:18:18 > 0:18:21and Kenya became a sovereign nation.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26It was hard fought for and hard won,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30but, pretty soon after independence, things began to change here
0:18:30 > 0:18:33and Kenyans began growing their own tea.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44After independence, thousands of Kenyans returned to the highlands
0:18:44 > 0:18:47to reclaim land that had been taken from them by the British.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03- Oh, here's my friend.- Samuel?
0:19:03 > 0:19:07Oh, welcome to Tennessee Farm. Samuel. Samuel Tibi.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10All right, lovely to meet you. I'm Simon.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Samuel Tibi is one of half a million Kenyans
0:19:12 > 0:19:16who grow tea on smallholdings of often just a few acres.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19You can see the river down below there.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21But this is your tea?
0:19:21 > 0:19:24This is my tea. This is my farm.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31Around five million Kenyans are employed in the tea industry.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33The people over there, are they working...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- That's your land over there?- Working on my farm, they are planting tea.
0:19:36 > 0:19:37Let's go and see them.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40That's a rucksack? OK.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Growing tea for export to countries like Britain
0:19:42 > 0:19:46has helped to transform the lives of Kenyan farmers.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Samuel earns the equivalent of around £7,000 a year,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52similar to a teacher's salary in Kenya.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56Look at the speed you work!
0:19:56 > 0:19:59Then, now picking this one.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Two leaves and a bud.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- Two leaves and a bud?- Yeah.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I'll go between the two of you.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09- All right, so tea... Tea...- Tea.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11This one. Two leaves and a bud, yeah.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14OK, good.
0:20:14 > 0:20:15I just picked some tea.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Yeah. You can see, beautiful.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20I don't know if I'm getting it quite right.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Yeah, yeah, that one, that one, that one, that one, that one. Yeah.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26- Bud.- Yeah, I know that's two.
0:20:26 > 0:20:27Yeah, two leaves.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29- Two leaves and a bud.- Yeah.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30Two leaves and a bud. Yes.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- OK, two leaves and a bud. - That makes the best tea.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Sadly, I haven't got the six months
0:20:36 > 0:20:39it would take for me to fill this basket.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43When you pick, you can see, you do that.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Sa...
0:20:45 > 0:20:47Samuel, you just missed the basket!
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Most of them went on the floor!
0:20:49 > 0:20:51- Did I?- Yeah, you missed.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52Oh, yes, let me try again.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54You've spent too much time being the boss!
0:20:54 > 0:20:57You need to come out and have a bit more of a lesson out here.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Tea grows so rapidly here in the tropics
0:21:00 > 0:21:04that pluckers can harvest leaves from the same bush week after week.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Samuel, do you love these bushes?
0:21:06 > 0:21:08I do.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10It is the one which I depend on.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15But do you come out and do you talk to them at all?
0:21:15 > 0:21:18- Oh, yes. - Hello, my darling bushes.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19Oh, yes, I do that.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Almost kissing them!
0:21:24 > 0:21:27You should report him to the authorities if he does that, OK?
0:21:33 > 0:21:35OK, so we're going to the buying centre.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38To the buying centre. Oh, yes.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41How often will you take the tea down to the buying centre?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44- Every day.- Every day?- Every day.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47- You don't seem to be carrying anything, Samuel.- I'm the boss.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51- Oh, is that why?- You are my worker.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52We pass through there.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54Oh, look at this!
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Pickers working on farms all around here
0:21:56 > 0:21:58bring their tea to a central collection point
0:21:58 > 0:22:02where it's bought by an inspector from the local factory.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06I'm number 31, Mr Inspector.
0:22:07 > 0:22:08More than a kilo!
0:22:11 > 0:22:151.15? You told me it was only half a kilo!
0:22:19 > 0:22:22All this tea, including mine,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26went off for processing before being sold on via the Mombasa auction.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29You might even be drinking it by now.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36I was heading in the opposite direction
0:22:36 > 0:22:39because the bulk of Kenya's tea comes from further inland,
0:22:39 > 0:22:41close to the border with Uganda.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49To get there, I cross the Great Rift Valley.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57It stretches 3,600 miles
0:22:57 > 0:22:59and splits East Africa in two.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17This area is home to one of the most famous tribes on the continent,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19the legendary Maasai.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23For centuries, they've spurned farming crops
0:23:23 > 0:23:26to maintain a nomadic life with their prized cattle,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28herding them around East Africa
0:23:28 > 0:23:31and living on a diet of milk, meat and cow's blood.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33But I'd heard that tea is now playing
0:23:33 > 0:23:37an increasingly important role in their lives.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39OK, great, we're here.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43I'd arrived at a small Maasai homestead
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and the ladies in the family had prepared a special welcome.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Hello, ladies!
0:23:48 > 0:23:49THEY SING
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Lovely to meet you.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05I think the idea is that we follow them.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Cups of tea are used in Maasai rituals
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and have become part of daily life out here.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Oh, that's great. Thank you very much.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21What more evidence could you have of a changing world
0:24:21 > 0:24:24than sitting here on the great plains of Africa
0:24:24 > 0:24:26with the Maasai tribes-folk,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29I've got a mug of tea and a chapati!
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It's the little prince.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Now careful, little one!
0:24:36 > 0:24:39- Has he got his own tea?- Mm!
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Wow, you're starting them young, aren't you?
0:24:43 > 0:24:45He really likes it.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Mm, he likes it.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50Traditionally, the Maasai have relied on their cattle
0:24:50 > 0:24:54for everything, even using their dung to insulate their homes.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59I'm prepared to. I'm Simon.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- Solomon. - Simon. Solomon is quite close.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06I think I am being volunteered here.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11There's not a lot left.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13A little bit more.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Very kind, madam, show me where.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19I'm rubbish at doing the decorating at home.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Where does it need it most?
0:25:23 > 0:25:24Whoops.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26I think she's a lot better at it than I am.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29I have never cow-dunged a home before.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33In recent years, the number of cattle owned by this community
0:25:33 > 0:25:34has fallen dramatically.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38So much so, their entire way of life is now under threat,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42as a grandmother who heads this community, Lucy Seleyian, explained.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07So the weather, the climate here, is becoming more unpredictable, then?
0:26:14 > 0:26:18They'd just endured torrential rains and flooding.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21This followed the most severe drought for generations.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Increasingly extreme weather events are a catastrophe
0:26:24 > 0:26:26for people across East Africa.
0:26:26 > 0:26:32So life is changing dramatically for the Maasai.
0:26:32 > 0:26:33What can the Maasai do?
0:26:50 > 0:26:52- You're planting tea?- Yes.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59Does it feel to you like you are losing your culture,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01your way of life?
0:27:24 > 0:27:26Lucy, do you think tea, then, is the future?
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Is tea potentially the future for the Maasai?
0:27:34 > 0:27:35PHONE RINGS
0:27:37 > 0:27:38Hello?
0:27:41 > 0:27:44It was a phone call from one of your neighbours saying,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46"Who are those strange people with you?"
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Some of the Maasai are embracing change,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55some of them are being forced to change.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58Many have already abandoned their semi-nomadic lifestyles
0:27:58 > 0:28:00and started growing tea up in the hills.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03And that's where I was going.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08We drove on towards the tea highlands
0:28:08 > 0:28:09in the west of the country.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Our tea comes back down this road on its way to the port at Mombasa.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23It's a journey with a few unusual hazards.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29What's this by the road up here?
0:28:29 > 0:28:33It's baboons, right on either side of the road, look.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35Look! Look!
0:28:35 > 0:28:37There's Mum with one... Oh, careful!
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Oh, dear.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Oh, that was close.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47There's one over here. Look, it's got one on her back, asleep.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01As the sun went down, most drivers were getting off the road.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05These roads can be dangerous after dark.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07There's bandits and hijackers,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12so drivers who are trucking tea along the road
0:29:12 > 0:29:13or anything else, really,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16will pull into a truck stop as the sun goes down.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18That's where we're heading to now.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27This lorry stop is called Salgaa,
0:29:27 > 0:29:32where many drivers who truck our tea pull over for the night.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Thanks, Dixon.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35Keep your doors locked, mate.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43So, officially, this is a place that doesn't exist.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48It doesn't appear on any maps, but the truck stop developed here,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and around the truck stop now is a small town,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55but it's a town that's really a bit like the Wild West.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01More than 600 lorries will stop here every evening.
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Good parking, sir! Good parking!
0:30:12 > 0:30:15At night, Salgaa comes alive.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19The population swells to nearly 7,000.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23A community emerges from the shadows to cater for the drivers' needs.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Oh, there's a real edge to this place.
0:30:31 > 0:30:32I went to meet a truck driver.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39Anton, can I ask where have you come from and where are you going to?
0:30:43 > 0:30:48How long will the whole journey take you? From Congo to Mombasa?
0:30:50 > 0:30:51My goodness.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57Why do truckers stop here?
0:31:13 > 0:31:17The truck drivers transporting our tea stop here for safety.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22But there's also an estimated 2,500 prostitutes here as well.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27And they're at risk from violence and disease.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32It's ten to ten on a Saturday night
0:31:32 > 0:31:35and we're heading out with the outreach workers here.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38I met up with North Star Alliance,
0:31:38 > 0:31:43a charity that provides people here with sexual health care support.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45Margaret, let me see what's in the bag.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Let's show the camera. What have we got here?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51- I've got condoms.- And is this what you're doing, then?
0:31:51 > 0:31:54You're distributing condoms to the sex workers?
0:31:55 > 0:31:59Yes, both sex workers and truck drivers.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02And roughly how many will you distribute per night?
0:32:02 > 0:32:041,500 a night.
0:32:04 > 0:32:05- Each of you?- Yes.
0:32:05 > 0:32:07- 1,500 condoms?- Yes.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09Goodness me.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21So, it's quite obvious to me that the ladies here, Margaret here,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25they've got a fantastic relationship with the sex workers here,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28but, obviously, when we turn up, it's not just me,
0:32:28 > 0:32:30there's the TV crew and we've got the camera, as well,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32that the ladies are obviously running off
0:32:32 > 0:32:35and some of the men are hiding their faces.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47The project officer here for North Star Alliance is John Mochama.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50- Hello. How are you? - I'm very well, thank you.- Welcome.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53If you're going to have any intimacy,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56you need to be safe.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59If you are not protected, don't have sex.
0:32:59 > 0:33:00- OK.- OK.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05So then the message is - zip it or use a condom.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09And is that a key issue among truck drivers?
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Among truck drivers and key populations.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14And who are the key populations?
0:33:14 > 0:33:17Truck drivers interacting with sex workers.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22They spend so many days and months away from their families
0:33:22 > 0:33:25and so you find most of them end up
0:33:25 > 0:33:29engaging in extramarital affairs.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34This is a crucial point.
0:33:34 > 0:33:35East Africa has experienced
0:33:35 > 0:33:38one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46More than 1.5 million people are living with HIV in Kenya.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49And investigators have realised that infected truck drivers
0:33:49 > 0:33:52have played a major role in spreading the disease
0:33:52 > 0:33:55throughout the continent.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58North Star Alliance now has a network of clinics across Africa,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00providing vital health care services
0:34:00 > 0:34:03to both truck drivers and prostitutes.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07I met up with one sex worker who was prepared to talk openly.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Sandra, is that your name? Sandra? Simon.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Hello.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16How long have you been working as a sex worker, Sandra?
0:34:16 > 0:34:20- 17 years.- 17?- Yeah.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22Why do you do this?
0:34:22 > 0:34:24I have children.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26I don't have a job.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45- Five children?- Yeah.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49How did you become involved in sex work?
0:35:10 > 0:35:14How many clients or customers will you see per night
0:35:14 > 0:35:17and how much do they usually pay?
0:36:16 > 0:36:19I'm quite pleased to be leaving, to be honest.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24The people there, individually, were lovely, but the place itself felt...
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Well, it was a sad place, really.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29There's a lot of suffering there.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31A lot of poverty.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36And, yet, it's a place that we're connected with.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Our stuff stops there.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40The drivers who bring us our tea
0:36:40 > 0:36:44find some degree of solace and safety there.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It's an integral part of the tea trail.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Next morning, we were back on the road
0:37:08 > 0:37:11and heading towards the heart of the Kenyan tea industry.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24Look at the state of the road here.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27And you think roads in Britain are bad.
0:37:30 > 0:37:34No wonder transporting tea across the country can take weeks.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Ah, this is disintegrating still further.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45This narrow road here, this narrow track,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49this is currently the main road across Kenya to Uganda.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51It's also the main road
0:37:51 > 0:37:54to one of the principal tea-growing areas of the country.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03Bad roads are part of what holds Africa back.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06According to the UN, less than a third of the roads on the continent
0:38:06 > 0:38:07are paved.
0:38:07 > 0:38:10The result is that huge transport costs
0:38:10 > 0:38:13comprise up to three-quarters of the value of African exports.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20With low pay and dangerous roads,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23truck driving in East Africa is a tough job.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Can we just stop, Dixon?
0:38:32 > 0:38:33Thank you.
0:38:35 > 0:38:36Look at this.
0:38:38 > 0:38:39Tea!
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Extending right out to the horizon over there.
0:38:45 > 0:38:46I'd reached Kericho,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49home to Kenya's biggest tea plantations.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56Rich volcanic soil, plenty of sunshine and rain almost every day.
0:38:56 > 0:38:57Conditions here are perfect.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04The tea grown here is considered to be Kenya's finest.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Which is why, after independence,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10several British tea companies stayed on.
0:39:14 > 0:39:15The largest, Brooke Bond,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19is now part of the giant Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23The way things are run here still bears a resemblance
0:39:23 > 0:39:25to how it was in colonial times.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Many of the workers and their families live on the estate
0:39:28 > 0:39:30where the tea is grown and processed.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Covering 50 square miles,
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Unilever's enormous Kericho estate is home to more than 50,000 people.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39They grow tea for the world here,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42including PG Tips for us.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46I am very proud to work and live here in Kericho
0:39:46 > 0:39:50and that my home is the place where goodness is born.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Unilever provides vital employment
0:39:52 > 0:39:55in an extremely poor part of the country.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58Many of their workers get free health care
0:39:58 > 0:40:00and education for their families.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Unilever says it pays a basic wage
0:40:09 > 0:40:13that's more than twice the national minimum rate.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Nevertheless, some campaigners
0:40:15 > 0:40:18claim life for tea plantation workers is difficult.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24James Okoth has worked with Kenya's human rights commission
0:40:24 > 0:40:27and he campaigns on behalf of plantation workers
0:40:27 > 0:40:28across the country.
0:40:29 > 0:40:35How would you characterise the life of a tea plantation worker?
0:40:35 > 0:40:39A tea plantation worker - it's a tough life.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41It's tough because the pay is not enough.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44You live from hand to mouth.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Whatever you get is just enough to maybe get your meal
0:40:48 > 0:40:51and, because there are not many alternatives,
0:40:51 > 0:40:54people are forced to work, yeah.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00We asked Unilever if we could visit their Kericho estate.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04They said yes, then we got here and they changed their minds.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06They said they weren't allowing any filming
0:41:06 > 0:41:09in connection with their refreshments category.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12But I'd been keen to see the production process
0:41:12 > 0:41:14and talk to their employees,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17the people who pick our PG Tips.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19Unilever didn't want me talking to their workers,
0:41:19 > 0:41:23but James managed to arrange a meeting with some pickers.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27We've concealed their identities to protect them.
0:41:27 > 0:41:29How much do you earn per day?
0:41:32 > 0:41:36- TRANSLATION:- It's hard to know how much I can get in a day.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40You get 11 shillings for each kilo of tea you pick.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44If you pick ten kilos, you multiply that by 11 shillings.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48At the moment, I can pick 15 kilos a day.
0:41:48 > 0:41:5012 kilos on a bad day when there's no tea.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56So, during the summer, average per kilo, around 15?
0:41:56 > 0:41:59- TRANSLATION:- Around 15 because things are very bad at the moment.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03That turns to 160 Kenya shillings.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05That's just over one pound.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Unilever told us that, in practice, over a monthly period,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14their plantation workers receive a basic wage
0:42:14 > 0:42:16more than double that rate
0:42:16 > 0:42:19but these women insisted they can't always pick enough
0:42:19 > 0:42:21to get the basic wage.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25How do you survive?
0:42:25 > 0:42:27- TRANSLATION:- Life is hard.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29You try to find enough tea to pick,
0:42:29 > 0:42:32but the weather's bad so there's no tea.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Yes, you just have to keep going.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37- Do you feel the same?- Yes.
0:42:37 > 0:42:43Most of the tea pickers, as far as I can see, are ladies
0:42:43 > 0:42:48and most of the supervisors and bosses appear to be men.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50How do they behave towards you?
0:42:50 > 0:42:55Are you treated well by male bosses? By the male supervisors?
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- TRANSLATION:- You can get a lot of problems at work.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05For example, your supervisor may want to have sex with you.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09If you refuse, things will get difficult,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12even just getting your tea weighed.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14They will find problems with your tea
0:43:14 > 0:43:17and those problems are because you refused his advances,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19not because of your work.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26So your supervisors are demanding sexual favours?
0:43:26 > 0:43:29What would happen if you complained about it?
0:43:31 > 0:43:34- TRANSLATION:- Most of the supervisors are relatives of the managers,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37so, even if there's a problem with the supervisor,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39nothing will be done about it.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41Maybe he's the manager's nephew.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45You'll be left in the same situation and nothing will be done.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47Are these stories common?
0:43:47 > 0:43:51Do you hear this from lots of people working on the plantations?
0:43:51 > 0:43:58Yes. I talk to many workers, like maybe ten in a month,
0:43:58 > 0:44:01from different places, friends,
0:44:01 > 0:44:03and the stories are the same.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07Is there no other work that is available to you?
0:44:07 > 0:44:10- TRANSLATION:- Only prostitution. There's nothing.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12Really? That's the only alternative?
0:44:12 > 0:44:15- There's nothing?- There's nothing.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Does it feel like you're trapped?
0:44:20 > 0:44:22- TRANSLATION:- The tea plantations are better
0:44:22 > 0:44:24because, even though the work is hard, you go home tired,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26but your body is safe.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Even in difficult times, it's better than going to work in the bars
0:44:29 > 0:44:32and being beaten up and getting a bad name.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36You end up walking the streets, getting diseases.
0:44:36 > 0:44:37You can end up dead.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47Don't worry about our suffering.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53We know that, when you buy our tea, we get our wages.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57If you stop drinking our tea, then we'll suffer.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Unilever disputed the reliability
0:45:05 > 0:45:08of some of these allegations of sexual harassment,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10but they've confirmed it's a deep-rooted social problem
0:45:10 > 0:45:12in rural Kenya
0:45:12 > 0:45:14and they told us they've investigated
0:45:14 > 0:45:17the claims of sexual harassment, sacked several employees
0:45:17 > 0:45:20and reorganised tea estate management.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24They're adamant workers always receive Unilever's basic wage,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27equivalent to less than £3 a day.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33So much of the stuff we take for granted in everyday life
0:45:33 > 0:45:37is produced by people who work for a fraction of what we live on.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40What appears to us to be tiny variations
0:45:40 > 0:45:43in the price we pay for tea or in pickers' wages,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45can have a colossal impact on millions of lives.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52Eight other countries around Kenya also grow our tea.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55I went further west, into Uganda,
0:45:55 > 0:45:57the final stage of my journey.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15I'd arrived in Tooro, Uganda's main tea-growing region,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19almost 1,000 miles from the start of my journey.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22Uganda's even poorer than Kenya,
0:46:22 > 0:46:26but, after years of instability, the economy's growing at a steady pace.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I was on my way to a factory to see tea being processed,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33some of it destined for Britain.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40The general manager of the Mabale tea factory, Kenneth Kyamulesire,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42showed me how it's done.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48This is a process called withering.
0:46:48 > 0:46:49- Withering?- Withering.- Oh, right.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53The idea is to reduce the excess moisture that is in the leaf.
0:46:55 > 0:46:56So these have been withered?
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Yes, this leaf is withered.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00It's being loaded onto this monorail.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03It's taking it into the processing room.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08Choppers, graders, shakers and driers transform lush green leaves
0:47:08 > 0:47:11into the dry black stuff that goes into our teabags.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21- So it gives the tea a hammering? - Yes.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25After it's crushed, it's chopped ever finer in a series of mills
0:47:25 > 0:47:27until it's the right size to go in a teabag.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39Blowing hot air through the tea oxidises it
0:47:39 > 0:47:42and gives it its characteristic brown colour.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Because, on this process now,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48we can literally see the tea changing colour.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Here we go now.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53For the first time on the tea trail,
0:47:53 > 0:47:57we see, in the tea process, tea as we know it.
0:47:57 > 0:47:58Look at it!
0:48:02 > 0:48:04I'm sorry about the noise, but...
0:48:08 > 0:48:11It's then dried and packaged, ready for export,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14to be put in teabags and sold on your local high street.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19This one is going to be shipped to Mombasa.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Tea's an important part of the Ugandan economy.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32But this is still a desperately poor country.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34More than a quarter of the population
0:48:34 > 0:48:36lives on less than a pound a day.
0:48:42 > 0:48:43Petrol station.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50The petrol's in bottles inside this little crate.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59- All right? Are we good to go on? - Yes.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03In Uganda's fields, I came across perhaps the most controversial issue
0:49:03 > 0:49:05on the entire tea trail.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07Child labour.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11Almost two million children work in Uganda, mostly in agriculture,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14and many of them are employed on tea farms.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18To understand why so many young children are working here,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20I met up with Moses Ntenga,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22who runs Joy For Children Uganda,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25a charity campaigning to improve children's lives here.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32TRANSLATION: The reason is some of them are orphaned.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35They don't have parents at home.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38They have guardians who are old and can't work,
0:49:38 > 0:49:41so they expect the children to go to work in the plantations
0:49:41 > 0:49:45and get the money as a source of income to look after their families.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Some of them are living in real poverty.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Michael Steddy began working on tea farms
0:49:55 > 0:49:58after the death of his parents.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00Michael, how old were you, then,
0:50:00 > 0:50:05when you took over running your family when your parents died?
0:50:07 > 0:50:09TRANSLATION: My parents died when I was 13.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14I took the decision to look after my brothers and sisters
0:50:14 > 0:50:16because, if I had gone to school as well,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19I thought they wouldn't survive.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22If I was in school, they'd have nothing to eat,
0:50:22 > 0:50:25so I stopped going to school and started to work
0:50:25 > 0:50:27to pay for their education.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31The money I earned in the tea fields
0:50:31 > 0:50:33has helped look after my brothers and sisters.
0:50:35 > 0:50:37I'm like a parent to them.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39I'm the eldest.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41They see me as a dad.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48There are more than two million orphans in Uganda,
0:50:48 > 0:50:51many as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54Often they're forced to work when they could be in school.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56Child labour is a huge issue.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Youngsters work to eat but don't get the education
0:50:59 > 0:51:01that could get them a better job in the future.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Generations get trapped in rural poverty
0:51:03 > 0:51:05in a hand-to-mouth existence.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08There's no quick fix.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14TRANSLATION: You can't just get rid of the problem
0:51:14 > 0:51:16like turning off a light.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19You need to fully understand this problem
0:51:19 > 0:51:21so we can help these children.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25But what you're saying is going to come as a bit of a shock
0:51:25 > 0:51:26to a lot of people watching this
0:51:26 > 0:51:30because they will automatically assume that child labour
0:51:30 > 0:51:33is something that is bad, that is evil almost,
0:51:33 > 0:51:35and it must be stopped overnight.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38But you're saying you want it stopped in the long term,
0:51:38 > 0:51:42but, in the short term, it's about survival for some families,
0:51:42 > 0:51:43for some children,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46and, in the short term, often there's no choice?
0:51:48 > 0:51:50If you want to stop children working,
0:51:50 > 0:51:52you need to provide food for them.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56Medicine, schooling, the essentials.
0:51:58 > 0:51:59If those things aren't there,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02there's no way you can stop these kids from working.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12Moses took me to see the tough reality
0:52:12 > 0:52:14for one child labouring in the fields.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21We're really out in the sticks in tea country now
0:52:21 > 0:52:24and we're looking for a lad called Abel, I believe.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27Since the death of his parents,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31ten-year-old Abel has lived with his grandmother and two cousins.
0:52:31 > 0:52:32Hello, Abel.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36Shake your hand. Oh, yeah, a nice little handshake. Thank you.
0:52:36 > 0:52:38Oh, it's strong. Oh, it's so strong!
0:52:38 > 0:52:42They grow some crops but it's not enough to feed the family.
0:52:42 > 0:52:44They survive on one meal a day.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47So Abel works in the local tea fields.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52When did you start picking tea?
0:52:54 > 0:52:57And how much tea do you pick per day?
0:53:01 > 0:53:05So you'll fill the entire basket in a morning, is that right?
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Abel works for a local smallholder
0:53:08 > 0:53:11who pays him 1,000 Ugandan shillings a day.
0:53:11 > 0:53:16That's equivalent to just 25 pence, but it pays for a bag of rice.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Are you the one who earns money for the family?
0:53:33 > 0:53:37What is your favourite lesson at school when you go?
0:53:37 > 0:53:40- Mathematics. - You like mathematics.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43Do you ever dream about what you would like to do in life?
0:53:50 > 0:53:51Low pay for tea pickers in this area
0:53:51 > 0:53:54means Abel doesn't earn enough to make a decent income
0:53:54 > 0:53:56and he's not getting enough schooling
0:53:56 > 0:53:58to have a decent education,
0:53:58 > 0:53:59so he's trapped.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01The tea trade's not helping him.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05Growing and picking tea should be
0:54:05 > 0:54:09improving the lives of the people here, it should be helping them.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11I hate to say it,
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I think tea is keeping them poor.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22It's upsetting to see how ingrained poverty is here.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24But things are changing slowly.
0:54:24 > 0:54:25Thanks to public pressure,
0:54:25 > 0:54:28most of the tea that's now sold and drunk,
0:54:28 > 0:54:33in the UK at least, is certified by organisations like Fairtrade.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36As I'd realised, they can't guarantee that children
0:54:36 > 0:54:39haven't been involved in the production at some point,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41but they take a long-term view
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and Fairtrade tea funds projects that combat
0:54:44 > 0:54:47and will hopefully, one day, eliminate child labour.
0:54:47 > 0:54:51The more we pay for our tea, the more that can be done.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53Kenneth, the manager of the Mabale tea factory,
0:54:53 > 0:54:57has pioneered one of these projects on a very personal level.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59I remember, when I came here,
0:54:59 > 0:55:02I found some children being employed in the factory.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06They are children I took on myself as an individual.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09I said, "Why are you not in school?" "I don't have school fees."
0:55:09 > 0:55:12"Can I pay your school fees or part of the school fees?
0:55:12 > 0:55:15"Can I help your parent by paying a part of the fees
0:55:15 > 0:55:18"so that you go back to school?"
0:55:18 > 0:55:21I took on about six kids.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23You said, "You can't work in the factory any more,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26"but I will pay for you to go to school"?
0:55:26 > 0:55:28At first it was resisted, even by my fellow workers, who said,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30"Why are you stopping them?" I told them,
0:55:30 > 0:55:31"As long as I'm employed here,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35"I'm not going to allow children to work in this factory."
0:55:35 > 0:55:37- So you took a stand? - Yes, I took a stand.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41I did what I did not for recognition, not for that,
0:55:41 > 0:55:43but I thought it was morally right.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47I mean, any work, whether working in tea or in banana plantations,
0:55:47 > 0:55:52it's morally wrong because you curtail this child's development.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55The country stands to benefit a lot
0:55:55 > 0:55:59if all its citizenry are educated.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01Being saddled with a sea
0:56:01 > 0:56:04of impoverished, not-educated individuals
0:56:04 > 0:56:05does not make any sense
0:56:05 > 0:56:11and it just compounds the problems and the development of the country.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14Things have now changed in this tea factory.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17In the past, many jobs here were done by children.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20Now, employing children is banned,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24both inside the factory and on farms that supply it with tea.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34But Kenneth has gone one step further to help local children.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36I travelled up the road from his factory to see how.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Hello, everybody.
0:56:42 > 0:56:43Hello!
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Oh! What a beautiful group of children you have.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50THEY SING
0:56:50 > 0:56:54Many of the children here used to work on local tea farms.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59Little angels!
0:57:00 > 0:57:04The school has been partly funded by the Mabale tea factory,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08which sells some of its tea as Fairtrade to the UK.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10That means they get a premium price
0:57:10 > 0:57:12and the extra money you've paid for teabags
0:57:12 > 0:57:16can be reinvested in schools like this and the local community.
0:57:16 > 0:57:17THEY SING
0:57:23 > 0:57:25The journey of tea from the fields of Africa
0:57:25 > 0:57:27is extraordinary and complicated.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29The colonial history, the Aids epidemic,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31the poverty, the child labour.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35What had really surprised me was just how much our simple cuppa
0:57:35 > 0:57:38is linked to some of the key issues facing this part of the world.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43I've loved making this journey.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45It's taught me so much
0:57:45 > 0:57:48about something I previously took for granted.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51There's certainly a dark side to tea,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54but it's also a livelihood for millions of people.
0:57:54 > 0:57:57And I for one will never have a cup of tea again
0:57:57 > 0:57:59without thinking of them.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06Next time, I'll be following the coffee trail.
0:58:06 > 0:58:07I'm in Vietnam.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11We've arrived. We're in coffee country.
0:58:11 > 0:58:15Oh, look at the scale here, all this coffee.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17I meet a coffee billionaire.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Chairman Vu. You've got a Bentley!