When an opportunity comes along that you have been given to travel to Rwanda to visit any one or two organizations, companies, and charity centers that have promoted gender equality, supported and empowered thousands of Rwandan women, Sworwathe, a commercial company that produces and exports tea, in the Northern Province of Rwanda, in Rulindo district, Kinihira sector, Karengamazi cell, just 2-3 hours’ drive from the capital Kigali, would be the best choice of a journey to take.
Established way back in 1975, Sorwathe employs over 3000 employees, most of them women in a factory and fields that produce approximately 6.5 million pounds (3 million Kilograms) of high-quality black, green organic, and specialty teas each year for sale to markets across the world.
Sorwathe also buys tea from other tea producers and tea cooperatives and sells to major tea packers and blenders as well as specialty tea companies in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
SORWATHE tea factory is: Fair Trade certified, NOP and EU Organic certified,
Rainforest Alliance certified/UTZ™, FSSC 22000 certified, Ethical Tea Partnership participant, and Rwanda Standards Board certified.
Gender-sensitive
As Rwanda celebrates 30 years of transformation of gender equality and women empowerment, during the 2024 International Women’s Day, Sorwathe is proud to commemorate with the rest of the world by celebrating its achievement especially in as far as gender equality and women empowerment is concerned.
At Sorwathe women are playing a great role in the company’s tea production. Sorwathe is the largest producer of quality tea in Rwanda and is known to be a tea company that produces a substantial amount of quality tea for the national and world markets. Most tea is grown on family plantations and cooperatives where the biggest number of members is women.
Gender equality is a basic human right. Investing in women empowers them to fully contribute to society, accelerating social and economic progress.“In addition to improving gender parity,
The first female employee in the factory was Madam Stephanie Kamayarise. She started in the sorting room and rose through the ranks being promoted to Plantation Secretary and thereafter to her current position of Compliance Officer for Sustainability Certifications. She is also a member of the Management Committee.
Sorwathe’s move toward to sourcing is based on partnership and mutual respect. The company does not just buy from tea suppliers; it has built long term relationships by investing part of their profits in the local community and in environmental projects that make a difference to their people’s lives.
Sorwathe has built schools especially for girls around its factory to promote education for the girl child. The factory has been working alongside these schools in several projects since 2014. For the schools, Sorwathe has supported by providing water and porridge and sanitary pads for the girls.
The ‘Days for Girls Kits’ containing re-usable absorbent liners have been introduced to these schools. They are created by Days for Girls, an international charity organization working to change the status quo through quality menstrual care solutions and menstrual health education to give back to young women days of opportunity and health. Today, Days for Girls has reached more than one million women and girls in 125+ countries including Rwanda.
The girls are provided with sanitary kits. It is so bad that many people have always taken this for granted – the ability to buy sanitary pads when the rural girl needs them is not available to everyone. Something as simple as sanitary pads can have huge positive effects on the lives of young girls.
On 25th September 2019, eight private companies and two public institutions were recognized for their demonstrated willingness and commitment to promote gender equality in the workplace.
Sorwathe was among the recognized companies and institutions that voluntarily joined the Gender Equality Seal (GES) Certification Program, an initiative that aims to promote gender accountability in the private and public sectors. Others were ECOBANK Rwanda, I&M Bank, CIMERWA, Marriot Hotel, Serena Hotel, Safari Centre, SORWATHE, VIVO Energy, National Bank of Rwanda and Rwanda Development Board.
