The first experimental tea in Tanzania was planted in 1904 by German settlers at the Agricultural Research Station in Amani in the Usambara mountains, and at Kyimbila Mission in the Rungwe district in the Southern Highlands. Commercial tea production did not begin in Tanzania though until 1926, and in 1929 a land development survey commission recommended that tea should replace coffee in
Mufindi and Tukuyu. Following the appointment of a tea officer, free seed was distributed to interested settlers during the period 1930 to 1934. A small tea factory was opened in Mufindi in 1930. By 1934, 1000 ha had been planted in Tanzania, and this produced 20 t of processed tea, of which 9.3 t was exported. The tea industry in Tanzania had begun (Carr et al., 1988).