High-resolution mapping reveals trade-offs among tea production, food security and biodiversity conservation

Tea plantations are an important source of income across Asia and Africa, yet their land requirements may create trade-offs with food security and biodiversity conservation. Using satellite observations and cloud computing, we developed GlobalTea10m and assessed a composite score integrating yield and quality to represent potential economic benefits (SEconomic), food security, and ecological security across nine tea-producing countries. Here we show that five countries achieved relatively high performance in at least two dimensions. China showed the strongest overall balance, whereas India combined favorable food- and ecological-security profiles with weaker SEconomic. Sri Lanka had the highest SEconomic but lower food- and ecological-security scores. Rwanda and Tanzania showed contrasting imbalances, and Kenya underperformed in all three dimensions. Spatial overlaps with productive cropland and conservation-priority areas indicate potential land-use trade-offs but do not by themselves demonstrate reduced food production or ecological degradation. These results support spatial planning, improved plantation management, and value-chain development tailored to national conditions. Tea production shows uneven trade-offs among economic returns, food security, and biodiversity across major producing countries, with China achieving the strongest balance and Kenya underperforming in all three, based on 10-m satellite mapping and cross-country sustainability assessments.