Press statement in response to Times article 'Tea workers still waiting to reap Fairtrade benefits'
The Fairtrade Foundation is extremely concerned about the tea crisis and the situation facing many tea estates in India and Africa, the result of decades of poor conditions and declining prices in the conventional tea market. Achieving progressive change against this backdrop is a long and challenging process.
Tea producers around the world are struggling to maintain viable margins in today’s harsh economic climate. Rising production and stagnant consumption have resulted in global oversupply. Whilst production costs continue to rise in the form of agricultural inputs, fuel, transport andworkers’ wages and benefits, tea prices have dropped by nearly half in real terms since the 1970s[i], making survival especially difficult for tea growers and workers.
That is why the Fairtrade system works with tea estates who are committed to progressively improving the conditions of their workers. But this is no simple task. Parminder Bahra is right to highlight in his article the complexities of the tea industry and entrenched practices on tea estates.
Fairtrade is one way, amongst others, to address these problems, but it is a long term development process, not an overnight miracle cure. Crucially, it requires increased sales of tea on Fairtrade terms to deliver sufficient premiums to meet the aspirations of tea workers to improve their lives. There is ample evidence of the positive way in which both small farmers and workers elsewhere in the tea industry in India, Sri Lanka and East Africa have used the benefits of increased Fairtrade sales to begin to improve the lives in their communities. It is disappointing therefore that the article chose to focus on the Dunsandle estate which, although certified, has sold hardly any Fairtrade tea in the past 10 years and therefore accrued very limited premiums for the workers. Meanwhile, the Kenyan tea estates achieved certification only shortly before violence broke out in that country, disrupting the lives of the workers and undermining the development process. However, as the Kenyan agricultural trade union agrees, conditions on the Kitumbe estate (the only Finlays group comprising of five estates in Kenya currently certified Fairtrade) are already improving as a result of Fairtrade sales.
We always take very seriously any complaints about conditions of workers or farmers in Fairtrade certified groups. The certification process is at the heart of the guarantee we give to UK consumers that by buying Fairtrade products they will make a difference to the lives of the world’s poorest people. The Fairtrade Foundation absolutely supports the independent and transparent certification system operated by FLO-CERT, which in turn is independently accredited by ISO 65, the international quality norm for certification bodies.
Annual inspections are performed by 120 highly qualified FLO-CERT auditors – of whom around 80 specifically focus on the inspection of producer organisations. The audit methodology is tailor-made for the evaluation of the Fairtrade Standards. We are confident that FLO-CERT’s certification system is robust and efficient.
The Fairtrade premium is always passed to workers, no matter how little or how much tea is sold. What’s more, ensuring that Fairtrade premium use is decided democratically by the workers themselves is part of the inspection process. Fairtrade premiums are not initially held by the estate owner as Bahra states, but placed in a separate bank account operated by the Joint Body. Workers elect their own representatives to this body, and Fairtrade liaison officers also offer training to the workers to facilitate proper consultation, communication and management of the premium funds. Communicating with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of workers is not easy, especially in places where high levels of illiteracy prevail. Where Fairtrade sales are low, such as Dunsandle, it can also be frustrating as the level of Fairtrade premiums cannot possibly meet the aspirations and suggestions workers make, which inevitably causes disappointment.
Meeting workers’ aspirations for change through Fairtrade premiums can only be achieved therefore if we can increase the proportions of tea sold on Fairtrade terms. At present, less than 1 in every 10 packets of tea we purchase in the UK carries the FAIRTRADE Mark, and the Fairtrade Foundation is committed to changing this situation. Some may accuse the Fairtrade movement of trying to grow too quickly, but change cannot come about quickly enough for small scale tea growers and tea estate workers struggling to make ends meet.
In increasingly tough economic times, the temptation may be to seek even more cut price deals for products sourced from developing countries such as tea. This would be disastrous for tea workers for whom ‘tightening your belt’ is no metaphor. Tea growers need Fairtrade today more than ever before, and our resolution for 2009 is to work tirelessly to achieve the better deal and the progressive change they so rightly deserve.
[i] The average price at Colombo Auction in 2003 was 150 US cents/kg (Rs145) compared to 164 cents in 1999 and177 cents in 2000.
Click here to read about the Mabale Growers' Tea Factory in Uganda and click here to read about Irene Kijarn and Silver Kasaro-Atwoki who work there.
Click here to read about the Small Organic Farmer Association (SOFA) in Sri Lanka and click here to read about Mrs Thamara Weerasena and Mr NJ Wijethilleke who work there.
Click here to read about Rajah Banerjee who works on the Makaibari Tea Estate in West Bengal