Climate change, displacement, and income loss are forcing vulnerable Filipino communities to abandon traditional livelihoods.

The Philippines ranks among the countries most affected by climate change. Informal settlers in Metro Manila are particularly vulnerable, with many families relocated to public housing in rural areas after storms and typhoons destroyed their homes. While relocation programs provide shelter, many families lose their primary sources of income. Women, who often remain at home to care for their children, are especially affected as their husbands return to the city in search of work, placing strain on families and communities.

At the same time, indigenous communities in the mountainous Ifugao region face growing economic pressures that threaten the preservation of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Banaue Rice Terraces. As income opportunities decline, some families are forced to abandon traditional rice farming and ancestral land stewardship in order to seek low-paid jobs elsewhere.

Tsaa Laya Premium Teas transforms locally grown herbs into a livelihood opportunity for displaced families and indigenous farmers.

Kapwa Greens trains and employs mothers from the Calauan Resettlement in Laguna and indigenous communities in northern Luzon to cultivate high-quality herbs used in Tsaa Laya’s handcrafted tea blends. What began as a small initiative engaging unemployed mothers in herbal cultivation has expanded into a full production chain that includes harvesting, processing, and blending premium herbal teas.

The project later expanded into the Ifugao and Sagada regions, where indigenous farmers cultivate herbs as an additional source of income alongside traditional rice farming. These tea livelihoods provide financial stability for remote communities while reducing pressure to abandon ancestral terraces and cultural farming practices.

Today, Tsaa Laya teas are sold across the Philippines, including through AirAsia Foundation’s Destination GOOD store on rokki.com and onboard AirAsia Philippines flights. Growing interest from international markets has created new opportunities for expansion, but limited production capacity has constrained the social enterprise’s ability to meet export demand.

AirAsia Foundation’s grant helps Kapwa Greens strengthen production capacity and expand Tsaa Laya’s community-based tea enterprises.

• Establish a tea farmers’ cooperative
• Provide training in good manufacturing practices, food safety, organic farming, agri-tourism, IT communication, business management, and product innovation
• Procure equipment and facilities to increase production capacity, including dehydration rooms, herb cutters, nurseries, and moisture analysers
• Test new markets and develop new tea products

Through these initiatives, Tsaa Laya aims to expand sustainable tea livelihoods while growing a premium Philippine herbal tea industry rooted in community development and environmental stewardship.