This year, at the first-ever TEAM UP held in Africa, we reflected on how African tea-producing nations are home to some of the tea industry’s most innovative and ambitious sustainability programmes. This report highlights key conclusions from the day and ways forward that will create positive change across the industry and improve the lives of tea workers, farmers, and their communities.
Resources
Ethical Tea Partnership resources.
China Supplier Conference Report
The Ethical Tea Partnership China Supplier Conference held in Hangzhou, China on 6-8 April 2017, brought leaders from the Chinese tea industry together with representatives of international buying companies to discuss practical ways of implementing sustainability in China’s tea growing regions. This reports covers key insights and developments.
ETP Global Standard
The ETP Global Standard outlines the international social and environmental criteria that producers are measured against. The social and labour provisions are based on the Ethical Trade Initiative base code which covers all relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) core conventions.
Supporting Change in Assam – March 2017
Find out how ETP's work with expert partners is contributing to change in Assam and improving conditions for tea workers, farmers, communities, and the environment in which tea is produced.
Moving towards a climate resilient tea production system in Assam
As part of the TGB-ETP project, the Tea Research Association (TRA) was commissioned to generate predictions of the climatic changes that will take place in India’s tea growing regions in the next 50 years. The goal of this report is to identify those areas that will remain suitable for tea cultivation, those areas that require adaptation, and those that may become unsuitable and may need to switch from tea to other crops.
Farmer Field Schools, Malawi
Farmer field schools are used to teach tea farmers about good agricultural practices. In this video they learn about the importance of fire breaks to help protect tea bushes and crops.
Malawi 2020 Tea Revitalisation Programme – Roadmap
Press Release: A living wage for Malawian tea workers comes one step closer
Working with UNICEF – Stories from Assam
ETP entered into a partnership with UNICEF at the end of 2014 to help protect young girls living on tea estates from exploitation. Through peer support and education the programme also aims to give them brighter and better life opportunities. In this document you can hear some of their stories.
TEAM UP 2016 Report
Insight and learnings from the number one tea and sustainability conference held in London, June 2016.
Improving the Livelihoods of Tea Farmers in Malawi
Find out how the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) is training tea farmers in Malawi to improve their tea farming practices and ultimately their livelihoods. The programme, which disseminates knowledge through farmer field schools on good agricultural practice, tea seedling production, climate change resilience, income diversification, and business skills management, is funded and supported by ETP, Tata Global Beverages Ltd., IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and the Tea Association of Malawi.
Improving young lives and protecting children from exploitation
Watch this video to find out more about how Unicef and the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) are protecting the lives of children and young people living in tea communities in Assam, India.
TEAM UP India Report
Insight and learnings from the number one tea and sustainability conference held in India April 2016.
Malawi 2020 Tea Revitalisation Programme – Roadmap
Malawi 2020 Factsheet
TEAM UP 2015 Report
Insight and learnings from the number one tea and sustainability conference.
TEAM UP 2015 – Pushing Boundaries
This video provides insight into what happened at TEAM UP 2015 – the number one tea and sustainability conference in the world!
An Overview of ETP
Find out about our latest projects and partnerships that are helping improve the lives and livelihoods of tea workers and smallholder farmers, the environment in which tea is produced, and increasing climate change resilience and mitigation.
Reducing Energy Consumption at Tea Processing Factories (Kenya): x 6 posters
Six posters aimed at helping tea processing factories to improve energy management and energy efficiency measures. Ultimately this reduces energy use, CO2 emissions, and the cost of processing tea.
Poster: Male & Female Responsibilities in Tea Farming Communities, Kenya
This poster shows the daily breakdown of male and female responsibilities in tea farming communities in Kenya. It’s a good way to demonstrate how much work female smallholder farmers are required to do, and how little free time they have.
Manual: Social Issues Training
This social issues training manual has been developed to support capacity building in the tea sector on gender and social issues. It supports a training programme that has been developed by the Ethical Tea Partnership and IDH in partnership with Solidaridad, the Kenyan Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, the Ministry of Cooperatives Development and the Kenyan Tea Development Agency.
Nutrition Poster A2 (Ugandan Trans)
The poster focuses on diet, healthy eating, and hygiene. It also has useful tips for feeding infants and young children, as well as information to help women stay healthy during pregnancy.
Nutrition Poster A2 (Eng Trans)
The poster focuses on diet, healthy eating, and hygiene. It also has useful tips for feeding infants and young children, as well as information to help women stay healthy during pregnancy.
Training Manual: Food & Nutrition Security (Module 1 of 3)
The manual was developed with the intention of improving food and nutrition security, and ultimately the health of tea workers and their families on Ugandan tea estates. It complements the kitchen back yard programme being rolled out by ETP, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Tata Global Beverages.
Training Manual: Nutrition & Health (Module 2 of 3)
The manual was developed with the intention of improving food and nutrition security, and ultimately the health of tea workers and their families on Ugandan tea estates. It complements the kitchen back yard programme being rolled out by ETP, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Tata Global Beverages.
Training Manual: Nutrition & Health (Module 3 of 3)
The manual was developed with the intention of improving food and nutrition security, and ultimately the health of tea workers and their families on Ugandan tea estates. It complements the kitchen back yard programme being rolled out by ETP, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative, and Tata Global Beverages.
ETP – Supporting Smallholders (Part 1)
Part 1 of how ETP is supporting smallholder tea farming communities.
ETP – Supporting Smallholders (Part 2)
Part 2 of how ETP is supporting smallholder tea farming communities.
How ETP’s Work Impacts on the United Nations MDGs
A look at how our projects and programmes impact on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
ETP Pushing Boundaries
An overview of how we’re improving tea sustainability and tackling deeper and more complex issues.
Improving Young Lives
Watch this video to find out more about the ground breaking collaboration between Unicef and The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) to help protect and change the lives of children and young people living in tea communities in Assam, India.
TEAM UP 2014 – Chain Reactions
TEAM UP 2014 talking heads video.
TEAM UP 2014 Report
Insight and learnings from the number one tea and sustainability conference.
Case Study: Addressing the Effects of Climate Change (Kenya)
Together with the German Development Agency – GIZ, we helped more than 100,000 farmers in Kenya increase their resilience to climate change. This case study highlights how we helped and what’s been achieved so far.
Case Study: Supporting Burundian Tea Producers and Smallholders
We worked with Taylors of Harrogate and the Tea Office of Burundi to improve the lives of workers and smallholders, by addressing problems with consistency and low social and environmental standards.
Mitigating Climate Change in the Tea Sector
The manual provides a set of tools and resources to support the tea sector, particularly tea factories and tea farmers, in addressing climate change mitigation and lowering their carbon emissions. The manual was produced in close association with Rainforest Alliance and FLO-CERT as part of a project funded by International Trade Centre (a joint agency between World Trade Organization and United Nations).
ETP Strategy (the Next 3 Years)
An overview of ETP strategy from 2014 to 2016
A Different Cup of Tea
A Different Cup of Tea: The Business Case for Empowering Workers in the Sri Lankan Tea Sector We worked closely with CARE International and successfully implemented Community Development Forums (CDFs) on tea estates. These ‘mini-parliaments’ allow development priorities and labour conditions to be negotiated and decided in a transparent way between workers, management, and other parties. An independent assessment by the New Economics Foundation showed a 1:26 return on investment for estates, plus additional gains for workers and the community. The report identifies the business case for CDFs.
Introducing ETP (Oct 2013)
In this issue we look at our work with Oxfam on wages, give an update on our Indonesian smallholder project with IDH, and highlight how our climate change programmes are developing in East Africa amongst other things.
TEAM UP 2013 Report
TEAM UP 2013 welcomed key players from across the supply chain and around the world to discuss the next steps in tea sustainability. The TEAM UP 2013 Overview captures insight and learnings from the day.
Improving the Livelihoods of Smallholder Farmers, Indonesia
We’re partnering with IDH on a three-year project to help more than 1,000 smallholder farmers from West Java and West Sumatra to make better livings from tea. The report explains how through training on good practice farming and increased cooperative support, the project is helping to raise smallholder plot productivity, leaf quality, and access to international markets. It also provides insight from the project team.
Addressing Climate Change in Kenya’s tea sector
We’re helping farmers adapt to the effects of climate change and reduce their impact on it.
Delivering Change
A comprehensive guide about how our work is improving the sustainability of tea production, the lives of tea workers and smallholder farmers, and the environment in which tea is produced.
How to Make Compost
Human Resource Toolkit – English version
The toolkit provides practical guides and contractual templates that help Chinese producers readily implement and embed systematic record keeping and other good practices.
Human Resource Toolkit – Chinese version
The toolkit provides practical guides and contractual templates that help Chinese producers readily implement and embed systematic record keeping and other good practices.
ETP Global Standard
The ETP Global Standard outlines the international social and environmental criteria that producers are measured against. The social and labour provisions are based on the Ethical Trade Initiative base code which covers all relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) core conventions.
Understanding Wage Issues in the Tea Industry
The report assesses the pay and benefits of workers on tea plantations in Malawi, India and Indonesia, identifies the systemic problems that are locking in low wages, wages that are often less than what is needed to cover households’ basic needs, and most importantly, outlines how the project participants will use their various spheres of influence to bring new organisations into the project and develop action plans to tackle the issues raised.
An Industry In Transition (Sri Lanka)
A report that highlights the emerging threats and opportunities faced by the Sri Lankan tea industry, focusing on plantation communities, and outlining options for addressing the challenges. The report is based on a multi stakeholder discussion convened by the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and CARE Sri Lanka, and facilitated by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA).
Adapting to Climate Change Poster (Kikuyu Translation)
Adapting to Climate Change Poster
Adapting to Climate Change Manual
The ETP and GIZ have produced a free training manual to help smallholder farmers increase their resilience to climate change. The manual shows good practice farming methods and has been designed for KTDA (Kenya Tea Development Agency) training staff that work directly with farmers to change practices and increase resilience. The manual is part of a wider 3-year project to help more than 50,000 farmers in Kenya.
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 9
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Introducing ETP (Sept 2012)
Find out how our projects, programmes, and partnerships are improving the sustainability of tea supply chains.
Case Study: Promoting Fairer Working Environments (Kenya)
Harassment and discrimination are hard to identify and address through traditional monitoring and auditing. The case study describes ETP’s experience of rolling out ETI’s Supervisor Management Training programme to promote equal treatment in the workplace, and reduce discrimination and abusive behaviour in Kenyan factories.
Case Study: Instilling Good Practice (India)
This case study outlines how ETP’s partnerships with expert organisations in India has enabled the roll-out of training on health and safety and environmental management, two key areas covered by the ETP Global Standard that many producers struggle with. It also highlights ETP’s work with the Nature Conservation Foundation aimed at resolving conflicts between workers and endangered Asian elephants on Assam tea estates.
Case Study: Improving Smallholder Livelihoods (Indonesia)
In Indonesia many smallholder farmers struggle to make a living from tea due to issues with leaf quality, low yields and inefficient organisational support. ETP’s three year partnership with IDH (the Dutch government funded Sustainable Trade Initiative) aims to address these issues, and to raise awareness of the social and environmental standards expected by western markets and certification programmes.
Case Study: Supporting Chinese Producers
This case study provides an overview of ETP’s work in China, outlining how ETP has expanded it’s support programmes from factory health and safety, and the safe use of agrochemical training, through to initiatives that are improving employment and HR practices.
Case Study: Adapting to Climate Change (Kenya)
Over the coming decades climate change will affect where and how tea is grown. In Kenya smallholders are particularly vulnerable, and for this reason, ETP and GIZ (the German Development Agency) have developed a three-year partnership to assist 50,000 farmers to adapt. The case study outlines how climate change will affect the suitability for growing tea in various regions of Kenya, and explores how collaboration between organisations and the building of adaption capacity will increase smallholder resilience to such changes.
Case Study: Helping at the Heart of Tea Communities (Sri Lanka)
An overview of the positive developments that Community Development Forums (CDFs) have made on 13 ETP monitored estates.
Working with Industry to Improve the Sustainability of the Tea Sector
Keith Writer, Commodities Director, Taylors of Harrogate, explains why Ethical Tea Partnership is in a unique position to move the tea industry to a more sustainable state.
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 8
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Kericho Climate Change Report
On the 16 May Ethical Tea Partnership and the German Development Agency (GIZ) gave an overview of their 3 year public private partnership to support approximately 10,000 vulnerable farmers. Over 60 representatives of tea producers, tea buyers, Kenyan Government officials, tea institutions, NGOs and development organisations met in Kericho to discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with climate change adaptation in the Kenyan tea sector.
Enabling Change Across the Tea Sector
An overview of ETP’s social and environmental projects that are improving the sustainability of the tea industry.
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 7
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 6
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 5
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 4
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 3
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 2
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives
Talking Tea Newsletter – issue 1
Read about our latest sustainability initiatives