Guwahati, Aug. 20 -- A simple tea leaf is taking on a new meaning for rural women in Assam's Karbi Anglong district, as Aaranyak organised a one-day hands-on training programme to help nine Karbi women turn locally grown tea into higher-value handmade Green Tea and Traditional Tea - creating a potential source of sustainable, home-based income while keeping traditional knowledge alive.

Women from Chandrasing Rongpi, Barking Engti, Sem Engti and Hemai Lekthe villages, many of whom are engaged in tea cultivation and homestead farming, participated in the training.

The programme focused on a practical question: how can communities earn more from resources they already grow?

Instead of selling freshly plucked leaves as raw produce, the par...