Creating a fairer, better, more sustainable tea industry for workers, farmers and the environment
The global COVID-19 pandemic poses severe threats to tea farmers, workers and their families.
Vulnerable tea communities need our support more than ever
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As we mark the UN's first International Tea Day, UNICEF Ambassador Gemma Chan shares the positive impacts of our Improving Lives programme with UNICEF
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Not for profit organisation that convenes the tea industry and development partners, NGOs and governments to achieve a thriving, socially just and environmentally sustainable tea industry
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We are creating a fairer, more sustainable tea industry for tea workers, farmers and their families as well as the environment.
To date, we have improved the lives of over 700,000 people in tea communities. By the end of 2020 we will have changed the lives of over one million people.
Changing lives:
Our award winning Unicef partnership: supporting women and young people in India
Our work on the ground spans Africa and Asia, and our far-reaching programmes have real impact. We work on deep-rooted, long-term change programmes that improve the lives of workers, farmers and their families and communities. We work to improve incomes and we also empower women to be more independent, improve health and nutrition in tea communities and help the sector to deal with, and become more resilient to, climate change.
Limbani works with smallholder tea farmers on the ground, teaching them entrepreneurial skills and supporting economic empowerment through our community saving scheme. Limbani’s work on building, developing and strengthening the skills, abilities, and resources that farmers need to adapt to industry and environmental changes is critical. Alongside his work at ETP, he is currently pursuing an MA in behaviour change at the University of Malawi.
Charles works directly with tea farmers, supporting their livelihoods through environmental projects and improving economic resilience through our community saving schemes. With a background in natural resources management, Charles truly recognises the needs of Malawian tea communities and has an excellent understanding of tree nurseries, beekeeping, and energy efficient cookstoves.
Provision
We work to build tea farmers and workers’ economic resilience, meaning that they are better able to adapt to future shocks. We also address the heightened lack of access to basic necessities, such as food.
Sri Lankan tea plucker Mummorothy works on her family’s kitchen garden, which ETP helped her to establish
Some examples of our work include:
> Our programmes across India, Kenya, Malawi and Sri Lanka promote better nutrition and tackle food scarcity by supporting kitchen gardens. Expanding our reach, in Malawi we’ve provided more than 4,000 farmers with extra vegetable seeds to enrich their kitchen gardens. We worked in partnership with IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative and ETP member Tata Consumer Products, with funding available as part of the Malawi Tea 2020 programme.
Distributing food aid via our Community Empowerment Programme in Assam
> In Assam, India, tea estate management and local government are issuing essential provisions to tea communities. We are also distributing food aid to 700 of the most vulnerable families in two of the estates involved in our Community Empowerment Programme. We’re making sure that those most in need across the estates are aware of the support available to them. We have been closely monitoring access to the government’s Covid-19 cash benefit scheme aimed at women and have been supporting those eligible to open bank accounts.
> In Kenya, an estimated 4,000 farmers and 20,000 workers are using the 550 water tanks we’ve installed. Aside from handwashing, the water will also help irrigate their vegetable gardens.
Malawian tea farmer Efelo with the strong box that stores the savings made by her community group
> In Malawi we have been working with farmers for many years to develop and support community savings schemes. It helps farmers access credit, as well as functioning as a savings deposit. Often farmers will invest their credit in new, entrepreneurial businesses to add to their income. These groups are vital – now, more than ever. They help farmers to keep their businesses running, and allow those most in need to access crisis funds. We’ve issued PPE and implemented safety measures across all our savings groups, so that farmers can continue to tap in to this essential resource. We’re working in partnership with IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative and ETP member Tata Consumer Products, with funding available as part of the Malawi Tea 2020 programme.
> One of the ways we help farmers in Rwanda to increase their yields, incomes and savings is by working together in our Farmer Field Schools. While current guidelines mean that these groups cannot meet, our trainers are supporting farmers to continue with the good agricultural practices they’ve learnt via one-on-one, distanced visits. The visits are also an opportunity to inform farmers about the latest health and sanitation advice.
> Women involved in our Community Empowerment Programme in Assam have taken up mask-making as an additional income source. So far, 18,200 masks have been made across four estates and will be distributed to tea workers in key plucking areas.
> To minimise any disruption of education on estates in Assam, ETP staff have introduced precautionary measures in learning centres, including more frequent ‘pocket classes’ of ten students. Additional exams have been launched to monitor progress and extra-curricular activities have also been encouraged. Young people have also been able to access online career counselling sessions.
Protection
Not only does protective equipment limit the spread of the virus, it is critical in enabling tea farmers and workers to continue making a living from tea.
Some examples of our work include:
> In Assam, India we’ve organised hand washing demonstrations in line with national guidelines, across the tea estates and factories involved in our Community Empowerment Programme.
Tea pluckers in Assam, India wearing face masks distributed by our Community Empowerment Programme
> Over 35,000 masks have been issued to workers by tea estate management in Assam. Members of our Community Empowerment Programme have supported this by hand making some face masks to give to workers on their estates.
> As part of our pilot project in Sri Lanka, so far we’ve supplied 550 face shields to tea leaf collectors, meaning that more than 30,000 farmers can safely continue to sell the tea they grow.
ETP Programme Manager Jane Nyambura donates reusable protective masks to Kenyan smallholder farmers
> In Kenya, we distributed a total of 112,500 reusable face masks for workers and smallholder farmers through our work with local partners.
> Our community savings schemes with IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative in Kenya help farmers and workers of farmers to save money, and learn new, entrepreneurial skills like soap making – which is particularly critical at this time. Group members and their families now have better to access to soap. Some worker groups have also gone on to sell 1,200 excess soap bars and 990 litres of liquid soap to tea factories.
> To enable our programmes to operate in Malawi, we’ve issued PPE for 40 lead trainer farmers and five ETP field team members meaning farmers can continue to be trained.
> We’ve distributed hand washing equipment for 800 farming families in Malawi.
> For both these initiatives in Malawi, we worked in partnership with IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative and ETP member Tata Consumer Products, with funding available as part of the Malawi Tea 2020 programme.
> In Rwanda, we’ve supplied 42,000 face masks for farmers and workers so far. Not only does this limit the virus’ spread, it also means they can adhere to local authorities’ guidelines and safely continue to make their living from tea.
> Across Rwanda, we’ve distributed soap to the 356 tea buying centres that needed it, meaning that all the country’s farmers can wash their hands.
ETP team member Charles Kambale issues Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) to a health centre in Malawi
Our work also supports wider community needs, responding to a lack of government funding. Examples include:
> In Malawi, we’ve distributed PPE, hand washing and cleaning equipment to seven health centres, which serve up to 170,000 people in tea growing areas. This includes surgical gloves, aprons, goggles and face masks. The health centres are now also stocked with infrared thermometers, disinfectant and paracetamol.
> In Assam, India, we’ve provided PPE to three estate hospitals, as well as dispensing sanitation items to the communities they serve.
Prevention
By raising awareness in tea communities, we can help prevent the virus from spreading.
In Malawi, our work informs tea communities how best to protect themselves and others
Some examples of our work include:
> In Malawi, our radio broadcasts are running for three weeks to alert tea communities to the latest government advice. Many families, particularly in rural areas, rely on radio news broadcasts. We’ve also shared guidance via strategically placed posters – such as in health centres. We worked in partnership with IDH – Sustainable Trade Initiative and ETP member Tata Consumer Products, with funding available as part of the Malawi Tea 2020 programme.
> Our posters and banners in health centres, schools and tea buying centres across all of Rwanda’s tea communities share the latest hygiene and sanitation guidance.
> In Assam, India, our Community Empowerment Programme brings together the estate community, management and the District health department. We’re working closely with doctors from the Assam state health service, the National Health Mission, to alert tea workers and their families to the latest guidance and safety protocols. We’ve set up awareness camps and distributed pamphlets across the estates, sharing details of COVID-19 causes, symptoms and preventive measures.
> For those returning to work on the estates in Assam, we’ve organised training to share the latest health and safety protocols– including advice on social distancing. The training has been a success, with measures being followed and young people raising awareness among their peers in accordance with government guidelines.
> By facilitating a webinar series with the Colombo Tea Trade Association Roadmap 2030 Committee in Sri Lanka, we’ve created an effective platform for the sector to discuss ways to best protect communities during the pandemic.
> In Kenya, our radio broadcasts were picked up by 1,055,000 devices, with the number of listeners expected to be far greater. This has informed rural communities on how to reduce the spread of the virus and stay safe during the pandemic and helped to combat the spread of any false information about the virus.
Working closely on the ground with tea communities in Assam, Kamini has a well-developed understanding of their needs. Graduating with an MA from Tezpur Central University and beginning his career in the development sector in 2009, Kamini brings a broad range of expertise to ETP. He has worked with both international agencies and state-level platforms on projects relating to farmers’ livelihoods, children’s education and rights and Disaster Risk Reduction.
As Project Officer, Gaurav works directly with tea communities in Assam to deliver our projects. Having obtained a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Science (where he focused his research on the socio-economic status of plantation communities), Gaurav has a sound understanding of how to assess programme impact within the tea sector.
Karishma works directly with tea workers in Assam to support our life-changing projects. She holds a Masters in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Guwahati and has been working with NGOs in Assam for the past six years. Karishma has a longstanding and earnest passion to uplift tea communities through our projects.
As Programme Manager, Nirbhay works directly with tea communities in India, providing on the ground support and managing the delivery of our life-changing projects in Assam. Having worked in the tea industry across multiple regions for over 30 years, Nirbhay brings invaluable insight and knowledge of the tea sector to the role. Thanks to his extensive experience in the industry, he has a comprehensive understanding of tea communities and their needs.
Appointed in 2011, Ian has extensive experience of the consumer products industry and development of sustainable supply chains. Having held several senior supply chain roles at Unilever, his 30-year executive career there culminated in his appointment as the company’s first Chief Supply Chain Officer. Ian Chaired the Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Board, and led transformational aspects of the company’s corporate social responsibility programme. Drawing on this experience, Ian ensures our work is pertinent to the challenges faced by the communities within tea supply chains around the world.
Jenny oversees the running and strategic direction of ETP, ensuring that our work continues to create a fairer, better and more sustainable tea industry and leads to measurable improvements in people’s lives.
Jenny comes with a wealth of experience, and most recently led the leading the Business and SDGs portfolio with Wasafiri Consulting, where her clients included the World Economic Forum and the Global Agribusiness Alliance (a project within the World Business Council for Sustainable Development).
Jenny began her career in the corporate sector working on media, external affairs and communications and went on to focus on various aspects of the CSR agenda through both her own consultancy work and leadership of not-for-profit programmes in the developing world. She has spent a substantial part of her career living and working in Southeast Asia.
Leading our team in China, Xing Ma works directly with tea communities to ensure ETP’s programmes have real impact in the country. Prior to joining, she worked as a Research Scientist at Unilever. Xing Ma draws upon her strong experience of global tea supply chains and sustainable agronomy to ensure that our work in China is pertinent to the tea sector there.
Wanja is responsible for developing high-level, strategic relationships with businesses, governments and development partners in Africa to enable us to go further, faster in tea-growing regions. She has hands-on experience of the tea sector, having founded her own speciality tea business. Wanja also worked closely with farmers during her time as a Trade and Investment Diplomat in the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and was part of the tea farming community in Central Kenya. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Wanja also travels to Malawi and Rwanda to support these regions. Her role is key to driving forward the longer-term sustainability of tea across Africa.
Hear from Nabanita
Nabanita is 25 years old and now a facilitator for her Girls Group. She wants to see young people think beyond life in their tea community.
Nabanita was a tomboy growing up and won awards for being a good all-round student. When Ritamoni, a Unicef coordinator, set up the Girls Group on her estate, she realised her potential and that it wasn’t limited to the community: “she allowed us to hope for opportunities”.
The opportunities offered through the Group, such as football and creative arts workshops, were life-changing for Nabanita as they showcased how her talents could be harnessed. They saw her progress to playing sport at the district level and winning awards, “the exposure I have had to all these different platforms has been fantastic”.
Inspired by Ritamoni, Nabanita thought about becoming a social worker too and is now facilitating her Girls Group, “the most important thing for me is to instill good thoughts, to get them to think positively and change their outlook on their lives”.
Some people living in tea communities can struggle to see beyond life in the community. Nabanita wants the girls in her group to show their talents and participate in wider society: “I want to give the girls the opportunity to think that there is a wider world outside”.
Child marriage has reduced and school attendance increased since the Girls Groups have been introduced. One girl in Nabanita’s group stopped going to school, so Nabanita encouraged conversations about how fun school was, especially sports, “that girl really likes sports so we kind of enticed her with the idea that school is really fun, you should go!” She had a chance to think about it and when she went back home, told her parents she’d like to re-enroll and went back to school.
The younger the girls are when they join the group, the more positive impact the groups can have: “if we can start giving them those positive feelings and that positive reinforcement from an early age, they will grow up with those feelings and be so much more capable of accessing and using this platform really well”.
Hear from Bhagyawati
Bhagyawati is 19 years old. She has taken part in the ETP-UNICEF Improving Lives programme and through her involvement in her local adolescent girls’ group has learnt about the importance of nutritious diet to improve her health.
She explains that “before joining the group, I had no idea of what a proper nutritious diet was. I would eat anything that came my way. After joining the group, I learned about the benefits of locally grown vegetables and developed a taste for them!”.
“Since I was growing these vegetables fresh in my own garden, this gave me confidence and improved my health. I used to face problems with anaemia – (I was) fatigued, didn’t feel like working and always felt sleepy the whole day. After my diet changed, these small steps have led to big improvements. I have much more energy”.
Bhagyawati has also been an inspiration for her friends in her community and her friend Sangeeta has not only been inspired to set up her own kitchen garden to grow fresh vegetables but has been big plans for her future. “I would like to be a chef, like Sanjeev Kapoor. I just love cooking!”.
Hear from Beno, Malawi
Beno Winesi is a smallholder tea farmer and father to six children. He has purchased two solar lamps through a credit scheme funded by the Ethical Tea Partnership.
“This lamp is very good. I don’t need to buy batteries anymore. Once it is charged, it lasts for five days. The air is so nice and clean now. None of us are coughing any more. And it’s so bright!
I have two, a small one just for light and a big one that has a radio and a USB charger so I can charge my phone.
I listen to the news on the radio. I love the news. I get news from Malawi and nearby countries like Mozambique. My wife and I listen to music on the radio and we dance together.
I also listen to football matches. My favourite team is Nassau Big Bullets. They are very popular in Malawi. My favourite international team is Manchester United”.
Hear from Martha, Malawi
Martha Khembo is an extension worker, liaising between the Lujeri Tea Estate and smallholder farmers represented by the Sukambizi Association Trust, one of four trusts in Malawi that represent smallholder farmers.
“My job is to connect smallholder farmers to the estate, to provide them with extension services such as credit and access to GAP (good agricultural practice) training.
We have been providing solar lamps for about two years. Now at night you will see almost every house has a light on. Two years ago the place would look dark. Some families were using firewood to light a small area of the house or using paraffin lamps, but these don’t have a very wide range.
The best thing about these lamps is what they do for kids. They can do their homework at night which means they can play when they come home from school. Play is an important part of a child’s development and now they know their homework can wait until it is dark.
Cooking outside is hard when it is raining. Now families can cook inside with this light.
What I’d love to see for this community is more green and less deforestation. I want to see a solar light in every house. I’d like to see healthier people and better houses”.
Hear from Jones, Malawi
“I am councillor for this ward. I encourage people to work hard in this area. This is a tea-growing area. I’m encouraging people to grow more tea.
I understand the importance of trees in tea. They provide shade and they help mitigate against climate change. Deforestation has affected this community. Heavy rains are associated with high winds which blow roofs off houses. The rivers dry up. This didn’t happen before.
Slowly but surely we will increase the production of seedlings along the riverbanks and on the mountains. Next time you come you will not see bare mountains.
I grew up in this area. There was a thick forest which has gone now. The rivers had water all year round. We used to have rains even in June but those rains have completely gone.
As a leader in this community, the mere fact that I come here to encourage them supports the initiative”.
Hear from Veronica, Malawi
Veronica, has been part of her farmer field school group in Malawi and taken part in cookstove production. Through the group Veronica makes and sells cookstoves that help her earn an additional income.
She has earned 37, 000 Kwacha in four months from the cookstove production, which helps her pay her children’s school fees. She’s hoping that the additional income will mean that her daughter, who has graduated from secondary school, will be able to go on to further education.
Veronica has a small tea farm and her husband works on a tea estate, but this income wasn’t fully able to meet her family’s needs. She explained that “when my children didn’t have school books or school uniform, I felt sad whenever they asked for something and I couldn’t give it to them. Now I can help my husband to provide all these things”.
She is now also using less fuelwood as the cookstove has reduced the amount of wood Veronica needs to cook. She says that the wood she would have previously used over a month now lasts many more months.
Hear from Gervais, Rwanda
42-year-old tea farmer, Gervais, is married with seven children. By being part of one of ETP’s community savings group, he’s been able to achieve his long-term ambition of owning a dairy cow. He had managed to save 150,000 RWF and was able to borrow 100,000 RWF from the VSLA group. This topped up his savings, meaning he could buy his dream cow.
Gervais has been successful with his cow business. The cow produces eight litres a day, five of which sells for 800 RFW a day. So far, he has been able to make around 220,000 RWF (£190). The rest of the milk is used at home, improving his family’s diets.
The cow gave birth to a female calf five months ago, and he plans to sell her next August for 250,000 RWF (£216). With the money, Gervais plans to renovate his house and bring electricity to his home. Gervais is one of more than two thousand farmers in Rwanda who ETP supported to have better incomes.
Hear from Thebronia, Malawi
Thebronia, a tea farmer in Malawi, has become the secretary of her local tea nursery. She hopes to be able to make a profit from the tea she grows in the nursery.
She explains, “Our main cash crop is tea and our children depend on it. Because of climate change, the rains are not falling at they used to. We were depending on pineapple as an extra cash crop but that is failing. So we are really dependent on tea. There is hidden treasure in tea”.
As well as planting tea crops, her nursery group are also planting crops like sweet potato which help to protect the soil and are an important nutritious food.
Thebronia has high hopes for the project and hopes that the nursery will continue to grow and help her to support her children and grandchildren. She is ever more reliant on improving her tea growing in order to better her financial circumstances and hopes to use the skills she has learnt through the FFS group to open her own nursery and further increase her production (with tea clones resistant to the impacts of climate change).
Mavuto works directly with tea farmers in Malawi, supporting them with our lending and saving scheme as well as environmental efforts. A Natural Resources Management graduate from the University of Malawi, he oversaw projects while at the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi and worked on a community energy development project at The Malawi Polytechnic before joining ETP.
Thwango leads our team in Malawi, overseeing the delivery of all our activity in this African country. She is passionate about developing tea workers and small-scale farmers’ skills in collaboration with our key partners in Malawi. Drawing upon her extensive experience of community-based programmes to increase incomes, Thwango ensures that ETP’s support makes a real difference to tea communities.
Diya works directly with tea communities in India to support our life-changing projects. She initially joined ETP while gaining her Masters in Anthropology of Food at SOAS, University of London. She’s also worked with London-based organic food collective Riverford and India-based NGO Navdanya, focusing on biodiversity and farmers’ rights.
Hear from Veronica
Veronica has been a member of one of ETP’s cookstove production groups for a year. She really appreciates that the cookstoves use less fuelwood as she now has “more free time that I can spend with family and friends” rather than collecting wood.
Being part of the cookstove group has been life-changing for the tea farmer and her five children. Veronica says, “before the cook stoves production, I didn’t have enough income to support the family. The programme has helped because now I can contribute to school fees. Once they have finished secondary school, I would like them to go on to college”.
Veronica also took part in Farmer Field School training, run by ETP, where she “learnt about good agricultural practices and environmental management”. Since being able to apply what she learnt, Veronica’s “yield has really increased as a result” – increasing her income.
Reflecting on her situation, Veronica says “with all these initiatives, my family life is better”.
Hear from Angela
Keen to add to her income, tea farmer Angela joined ETP’s cookstove programme where she makes and sells stoves. She invests the extra money she makes in to a community savings scheme.
She says, “I can see that my life is changing for the better. Now that I am able to do things independently because of this new income, other women in the community look to me as an example, they want to learn from me. Even my husband gives me the respect I deserve, much more respect than a wife traditionally gets”.
A graduate from ETP’s agricultural training programme, Farmer Field School, Angela is “getting a much better yield. I have more money now. I am no longer struggling to send my children to school”. Her other priority is “that the food I buy is balanced in the ways I learnt in Farmer Field School. The extra money allows me to do this”.
Hear from Asuwema
What first attracted tea farmer Asuwema to the beekeeping club was “how well the women were doing. They’ve got extra money and have TVs and bikes”. A single mother of one, she is keen to be self-sufficient: “besides the money, the women in the group encourage each other and give each other advice… they can help me with life in general”.
She says that “women are not respected here as much as men. Single mothers have a tough time as they are not respected. When I have money and I am self-reliant, for sure I will be respected”.
Asuwema puts some of the extra money she makes from the beekeeping group in to a community savings scheme, set up by ETP. She wants to use the savings to help her mother invest in building work as “her house isn’t good, and I’m worried about how it will cope when the rains come”.
Hear from Walter
Tea farmer Walter is a member of one ETP’s tree nursery groups in Malawi. He’s aware that “most of the indigenous forest has gone” and has so far planted 200 trees himself. He will “sell about 150 and keep the stump and roots” so that they sprout again.
Walter uses the extra income he makes from his trees to support him and his family. He can “sell a full-grown tree for firewood” and “a younger tree for poles for construction”. As well as spending the extra money he makes on essential like food, Walter also invests in school fees for his six children and seven grandchildren.
Hear from Esnart
Grandmother Esnart is part of her local tree nursery group, planting trees to combat deforestation. The tea farmer witnessed first-hand the changes to the landscape, and she notes “when I was a child, the mountains were so beautiful. There was a blanket of forest, so thick that if you went up with another person, you couldn’t see each other. It was full of wild animals, but they have all gone now”.
It’s not just her generation that’s seen the effects of deforestation. He grandson Matthew is 22, and is all too aware of the impact of these changes: “there were some trees on the mountain when I was a child, though I was told then that it was nothing like it used to be. But now even they have gone. I can only imagine wild animals on the mountains from stories my grandmother has told me.”
Matthew knows that now is the time for action: “I fear it will be very bad when I have children. They will be very angry with our generation for allowing this to happen. But I hope it won’t come to that and we will choose to reforest the mountain instead.”
Hear from Patricia
Tea farmer Patricia notes that having a solar lamp “only brings joy and happiness” to her and her family. She used to worry when using paraffin lamps in the home as “they are a great danger. Children can forget it is on and fall asleep. They can also lead to chest infections”.
Having a solar light means Patricia’s four children can all read by it at night. This has been transformational for her family, and Patricia’s “seen a great improvement in their schoolwork”. One of her sons is reaping the benefits of the extra study time. He went from being “number 20 in the class for results, but since we’ve had the lamp, he’s moved up to number three”.
Hear from Ramaya
Ramaya grows organic vegetables in his family’s kitchen garden. He says that as it is “very healthy they prefer it. I knew about the importance of nutritious food before but not to this extent”.
Hear from Devadasan
Tea worker Devadasan has been taking part in the ‘out grower’ model and with the extra income from his plot of land has been able to send his son to university.
He says, “I use the money from our plot for my son’s university education. He is studying an arts degree. He wants to become a teacher and I think he might come to work in our area. I hope that some of my daughters will go to university too. I’d like my daughters to become engineers and lawyers”.
Hear from Selvamerry
Selvamerry is a tea worker, she has been taking part in the ‘out grower’ model. She says that she is now hoping to use the extra income to save for her children’s education:
“I will use the extra money for my kids’ education. When I had some spare recently, I bought gold jewellery. We have a tradition here of ‘saving’ money in jewellery. If we put it in the bank, we might treat it like cash and spend it quickly. But if we buy jewellery, we will definitely think twice before selling it”.
Hear from Patricia
The backbone of ETP’s business and entrepreneurship training in Rwanda is Patricia. An inspiring lady, she is the first woman to become a Master Trainer. A Malawian, she travelled to Rwanda specially to ensure the success of the project when it launched and is confident about its future:
“We are going to have a big impact in Rwanda… we will help farmers in terms of the record keeping, planning, knowing the size of their land enhancing their entrepreneurial skills, and better farm management, which will lead to improved incomes”.
Having a woman as a trainer and role model for business has had a remarkable impression on the females being trained. Patricia notes that “most women open up when they are talking with fellow women… because when they see a fellow woman doing it, they believe that they, too, can do it”.
Hear from Speciose
Tea farmer Speciose leads one of ETP’s Farmer Field Schools in Rwanda, where nearly half the members are women. The group learnt how to grow mushrooms through the programme, and Speciose says “this will be a very good income-generating activity for us”. The extra money can be saved in one of ETP’s lending and savings schemes, which she also heads.
Aside from the financial benefits, Speciose says “we appreciate this because mushrooms are rich in nutrients and minerals and will contribute to the good health of our families”.
Hear from Emily
Taking part in ETP’s Farmer Field School has transformed not just tea farmer Emily’s life, but also her five children’s too. Thanks to the training, she’s seen a big increase in her income and “tea cultivation is giving me enough money now to send them all to school”.
Enterprising tea farmer Emily not only grows tea, but also runs a shop. She notes that “the school taught me business skills. I wanted to start a business already, but I didn’t know where to begin”.
Inspired by ETP’s training, she says “my next venture will be to supply spare parts for motorbikes. It is my dream to set that up. With that, I’ll have more money to support my children through education”.
Hear from Yogesh
Yogesh is Joint Secretary of a CDF and lives on a tea estate with his wife, a plucker, and their child. Around half of the residents in the community don’t have any form of identification.
Yogesh is passionate about helping his community secure the documentation that they need. He says, “a lot of people don’t have any identity documentation and without these documents it is very difficult for people to do the things they need to do to make their lives better”.
Noting the pivotal role documentation plays, Yogesh details “for example, it is mandatory now to have a bank account. But without a bank card, you can’t open a bank account. Without a birth certificate, we can’t enrol our children in a school outside the tea estate. There are government quotas for people from certain casts for government jobs. But without the caste certificate you are not eligible for those quotas”.
Yogesh’s collection of identification documents Credit: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos
Yogesh sees an opportunity for the CDFs to streamline the issuing of identification documents for tea communities. A complicated bureaucracy means that currently people have to travel to lots of different government offices to get the relevant papers, costing time and money. The CDFs can make life easier for residents by being the link between the community and the government.
Yogesh is keen to “explain to people the importance of this as not everyone understands the benefits”. Hopeful about the future, he says “through the CDFs we can work together… we can all rise. Not only the community but the whole industry”.
Hear from Amrit
As Secretary of the estate’s CDF Amrit is proud to be part of “a proper process for activities that will help us”. For him, the initiative plays an invaluable role in “improving developments on the estate” for the whole community’s benefit.
The CDF has “done some problem prioritisation to talk about the most important issues for all the community”. They identified youth unemployment as a major concern to address.
Amrit notes that “we have a lot of young people living one the tea estate who are educated but haven’t been able to find jobs. The garden isn’t able to employ everybody”. Keen to find a solution, the CDF “facilitates vocational skills training so that they can be employed elsewhere, for example in hotel management and other trades”.
Hear from Deepjyoti
A member of his local CDF, Deepjiyoti is involved in creating an action plan for improvements to the tea estate. He notes that “there are a lot of problems with alcohol on the estate. While some women do drink, it is mostly men and often it is men who work for cash wages off the estate. They have money in their hand, and they spend it on drink”.
He points out alcohol is a “big source of conflict. Sometimes men who are drinking can’t hold down a job and are beating their wives and taking their wages to spend on drink. If the wife refuses to give him her wages, then they might sell household items to spend on liquor”.
This can also have a detrimental effect on children in the home, and disrupt their studies. As Deepjiyoti says, “it’s not just about the alcoholic, it’s about the impact on the people around them”.
Via the CDF, Deepjiyoti is working to address alcoholism on the estate. This includes awareness-raising by going “house to house discouraging people from drinking and also from brewing alcohol in their homes”. Recognising the value of the CDFs, Deepjiyoti notes that “by representing everyone on the estate it gives us a bit more leverage that we can use to solve the problem”.
Though a Political Science graduate, Deepjyoti is currently unemployed. Deepjyoti sees lots of potential for the CDF to also help estate residents to access skills training that will increase their employability.
He says, “There are a lot of educated young people on the estate, but they are still not qualified for certain positions. There are loads of skills development programmes that the government runs. If we can identify what the programmes are and help people access them, then they can also look for jobs inside or outside the tea estate. Personally, I would like to do hotel management training”.
Hear from Asha
Asha is a tea plucker and founding member of the CDF on her estate.
She says, “the management and my community nominated me to represent them. I can’t read and write but I understand the context very well, and I can come back and talk to the people in my community in their own language”.
Asha recognises the value of the CDF, noting “it brings everyone together – student union, trade union – to find solutions for the benefit of the estate and make a complete action plan”.
She points out that the CDF structure means that they can help tackle the root causes of some of the issues people face on the estates: “everything is linked. Getting our ID documents has a snowball effect on everything else. Not having a bank card means you can’t open a bank account. Not having a bank account means you can’t save money”.
Hear from Annie
Annie learnt how to cook nutritious recipes as part of her Farmer Field School training. It’s had a far-reaching impact on tea farmer Annie and her family. She’s noticed that her “children are so much healthier now – they can concentrate better”. Not only that, Annie’s found that both her and her husband “feel stronger when we are working in the tea field”.
Taking part in Farmer Field School programme has also meant that the family have been able to make more money from the tea they grow. They invest this in a community savings scheme.
Keen to find innovative ways to earn more, they use the extra income to run a small, profitable shop from their house.
Hear from Edna
The biggest fans of Edna’s newly developed cooking skills are her two sons. They can’t get enough of the nourishing sweet potato fritters she’s learnt to make, and Edna’s noticed a real improvement in their health since introducing a more balanced diet. She says,
“I can really see the change in my youngest child. He used to get sick a lot and now he doesn’t”.
Edna has taken part in the Farmer Field School programme and so now grows a variety of crops. She invests her increased income in the community savings scheme.
She says: “I plan to save towards my children’s education. The money will accumulate, and it should be enough for their secondary education. I am hopeful that they will get well-paid jobs. One wants to be a driver and the other wants to be a pilot”.
Hear from Victoria
Entrepreneurial tea farmer Victoria runs a hair salon. She is proud that her “business is very profitable. I supply treatments and hair pieces and I go home every day smiling”.
Being part of a community savings scheme has given Victoria the opportunity to access funds to grow her salon:
“Now I can do every type of style a customer wants. Eventually, I want my salon to expand so I can have many customers at once”.
A mother of two, Victoria’s increased income has meant she can now pay for both her children to go school. She notes “when we don’t have financial security, life is hard. But in my case, I am respected, and I am able to support others who are struggling so I have influence”.
Hear from Patrick
Patrick is a painter on a tea estate in Malawi, he says that “when I started work I had no qualifications, but I have put in the work and now I have been promoted”.
Patrick invests some of his salary in to a community savings scheme, set up by ETP. He appreciates that “we can save a little now to fulfil our dreams in the future”. Patrick uses the money he saves to change his family’s lives for the better. He says,
“I want to improve my family’s standard of living. I’d like to be able to provide them with more food and more variety”.
Patrick has three daughters and a son and can use his savings to pay their school fees. He says, “I want my children to be educated so that they can be independent. I want them to be able to stand on their own two feet”.
Hear from Rhoda
Rhoda is a member of a community savings scheme and has been saving to build her house. She says:
“I started building this house in 2014. I joined the scheme in 2016. I used a loan to buy 60 bags of cement to finish off my house. I grew up in a small house with a grass thatched roof, so I am very proud of this house”.
She has also been able to use her savings to purchase a fridge, which she is using to run her own drinks business. With the extra income from selling drinks she plans to purchase more resources to set up future ventures.
We support tea communities, and run community savings schemes with workers in the tea industry. Currently more than 2,000 workers are part of this initiative, and most of these are women. The extra money is used for basic needs such as housing, medical care and education as well as being invested in entrepreneurial opportunities.
Hear from Loveness
Malawian tea farmer Loveness never managed to complete school. She has three young children and attends a Farmer Field School. She’s seen a big increase in income thanks to the training, and the amount she makes a month has nearly doubled.
This has been life-changing for Loveness, who says, “I adopted my niece when my sister died. I could afford to do this because of the extra money I am earning since Farmer Field School”. She can now pay for all her daughters to go to school and wants her girls to be “the first in my family to finish secondary school”.
Sarah oversees the running and strategic direction of ETP, ensuring that our work continues to create a fairer, better and more sustainable tea industry and leads to measurable improvements in people’s lives. With a background in development, strategic sustainability and corporate responsibility, she has worked on programmes across the world for the International Institute for Environment and Development. Sarah has also helped companies in very different industries improve their social and environmental impacts at a number of not for profit and large-scale consultancy firms.
Ishan oversees all our work in Sri Lanka. He brings a wealth of experience from his roles at Unilever and Dilmah. As well as extensive supply chain and procurement experience, Ishan was also responsible for a range of sustainability programmes.
Working on the ground with Rwandan tea workers and farmers, Janvier has a full understanding of the tea communities in this African country. He’s particularly well-versed in sustainability, having joined ETP from Vi Agroforestry – a Swedish development cooperation which promotes climate change awareness among farming communities.
Supporting tea farmers in Malawi, Innocent works with them to improve the quality and productivity of the tea they produce and in turn improve household incomes. He has a wealth of experience in sustainable agriculture, natural resource management and economic empowerment interventions, having worked with Malawi’s Centre for Development Management and LTS International. Innocent has Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Malawi as well as a Masters in Environmental Studies obtained from the Catholic University of Malawi.
Tea farmer Jane brings first-hand insights to her role in Kenya. Having worked for the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) for 7 years, she has extensive experience of working directly with farmers. A MBA in Strategic Management graduate, Jane also worked as Regional Manager for Ethical Business Services at Africa Now before joining ETP. Her thorough understanding of the tea industry and passion for change ensures that ETP’s activity in Kenya has real impact.
Wagurah has long standing experience in improving sustainability in Africa. A graduate from Egerton University in Kenya and an expert trainer, he came to ETP having managed Corporate Social Responsibility at a major Kenyan exporter of fresh flowers. Bringing his sustainability experience to the tea sector, Wagurah continues to drive improvements in social and environmental practices in tea communities across Africa.
Nelia leads our activity in Indonesia, ensuring that ETP’s work is truly supporting tea workers and farmers as well as addressing environmental issues in tea communities. Nelia has extensive experience of the development sector in this Asian country, having worked at Plan International, Indonesia and managed projects with UNHCR and the US Department of Agriculture.
Supporting those working and living in tea communities in India, Payal witnesses first-hand the challenges they face. She works closely with ETP’s global teams to help tea producers and farmers to meet internationally recognised social and environmental standards, and evaluate the impact of our on-the-ground programmes. A Masters graduate in Development Studies from SOAS, University of London, Payal completed her BA in Sociology at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
Vikram has an in-depth understanding of the tea industry, having worked around the globe for large tea plantation companies, including in North and South India, Malawi and other African countries. He began his career as a Management trainee at Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, one of the world’s largest plantation companies. Vikram’s executive career in the sector also includes time at major global tea producer Goodricke, where he spent nearly a decade. Vikram’s global experience and strategic approach ensures that our work in India truly improves the lives of tea communities.
By delivering our programmes to farmers on the ground, Jie has a true understanding of the issues Chinese tea farmers face. She has strong experience of training small-scale farmers in the field: Jie worked as a farmer trainer for UTZ, creating training materials during her time there. Her Masters from the Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences further complements her knowledge of the sector.
Jame works directly with Chinese tea farmers to understand the challenges they face, and how best we can work to address these. He has a professional, working knowledge of tea processing and cultivation having obtained a Masters from the Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and also majoring in Tea Science during his undergraduate degree at Hunan Agricultural University.
Leading our team in China, John works directly with tea communities to ensure ETP’s programmes have real impact in the country. Prior to joining, he worked as Ethical Compliance Manager at Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer’s and Walmart and measured the performance of over 1,000 factories against the Ethical Trading Initiative base code. He draws upon his strong experience and qualifications in sustainable supply chains to ensure that our work in China is pertinent to the tea sector there.
Hear from Sangeeta
Sangeeta is 19, and her favourite subject is maths. As part of the Girls Group, Sangeeta’s passion for her own studies has been matched by her encouraging girls to stay in education. She’s worked on a range of scenarios, which have included preventing girls from eloping to escape domestic violence and encouraging young women to stay in school as well as convincing their parents to support that decision. Sangeeta has also stood in as the community mobiliser on occasion.
Working with the Child Protection Committees and Welfare Officers, Sangeeta has been able to visit the homes and families of vulnerable children to talk about the challenges those girls face.
She says, “we go house to house to inform parents that they shouldn’t marry their girls before 18 and their boys before 21 and this is illegal in Indian law”. Yet Sangeeta has seen some girls eloping at a young age with their boyfriends, resulting in teenage pregnancies. She says, “in most cases girls elope because there is domestic violence at home. To outsiders, it is just a young girl running away with a boy. But the reality is that at home there is alcohol and violence. Most of these marriages are an escape from that violence. The sad thing is they escape from one violent situation and end up in another”.
But with the support of the Girls Groups Sangeeta explores the challenges facing these young women and provides them with the support they need to pursue other options, such as staying on at school. By visiting their homes and families, Sangeeta is also ensuring that the girls’ families support them and encourages a whole new way of thinking about these adolescent girls’ futures on the tea estates.
She says, “we go to their house to tell them what we do in the group, how good it has been for us and if they allow their daughters to participate, it will only help her. That is how we negotiate”.
Distributing food aid via our Community Empowerment Programme in Assam
Rhoda is a member of a community savings scheme and has been saving to build her house. She says:
