Thiashola Tea Estate, South India
In Brief
©Simon Rawles
Fairtrade certified: 2008
Organic certified: 2003
Annual production: 4.5 million kg (4,500 tonnes)
Fairtrade sales: 2.25 million kg (2,250 tonnes)
Fairtrade sales: 60% of total
Workforce: 359 permanent field workers, 10 factory workers, 53 seasonal workers
Introduction
Thiashola Tea Estate is located in the heart of the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu state, the main tea growing area in south India. It is owned by PIDC, which also owns the nearby Nadukani and Daverashola tea estates. Thiashola has been certified organic since 2003 and was Fairtrade certified in January 2008. Daverashola has applied for Fairtrade certification and is scheduled for audit at the beginning of 2010.
Thiashola extends to 190 hectares (470 acres) at an average altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 ft). The estate employees 359 permanent field workers, mostly female tea pluckers, with 10 permanent factory workers and an additional 53 at peak production times. Thiashola produces Orthodox1 black teas and green teas and has an annual production of around 4.5 million kg (4,500 tonnes). The majority is sold directly to buyers in Germany, Australia and the UK, with around 5% sold at local auctions in Coimbatore and Cochin. This reflects the company’s commercial strategy of targeting higher value export markets rather than producing CTC for the domestic market.
Difficult times for the Indian tea industry
India’s $1.5bn tea industry experienced an almost decade-long slump from 1998, with prices and exports plummeting because of weak domestic demand and increased international competition, coupled with the increasingly poor quality of teas produced in the country. This situation is exacerbated by the long-term downward trend in global tea prices in real terms – taking inflation into account – since the 1970s.
Traditional markets for Indian tea such as the UK, Russia and Pakistan have largely been lost to Sri Lanka (Orthodox) and Kenya (CTC). The structural surplus of tea on the world market contributed to the long-term downward trend in tea prices, particularly at Indian auctions. This severely damaged the incomes of small-scale tea growers and led to the closure and abandonment of tea estates whose owners struggled to cover increasing labour, fuel, and transport costs as well as the requirement to provide housing, primary schools, and medical facilities as laid out in the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (PLA).
South Indian production largely pinned its hopes on supplying the growing domestic market with the lower quality CTC tea that is ideal for the regional preference of tea boiled with milk, water and sugar as it retains its rich red-brown colour. Unfortunately growth in domestic consumption has failed to meet expectations.
But 2008 heralded a change in fortune for the Indian tea industry with an increase in exports driven by the global shortage of tea resulting from drought in Kenya and Sri Lanka – compounded by political turmoil and labour unrest respectively – while production in India was also affected by drought, particularly in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Expectations within the Indian tea industry are that exports and prices will remain strong, at least until production in Kenya and Sri Lanka picks up.
As well as the dramatic decline in market price over the last 25 years, tea estates have more recently had to contend with increases in wages and the price of inputs like fertilizer, amounting to a 20% increase in overall costs.
Tea workers
Tea pluckers, who are almost exclusively women, work six days a week from 8am until 4pm.They have an hour for lunch which they bring with them or go home if working in a nearby tea field. Men mainly work as field supervisors, carry out weeding and spraying, or work in the tea factory. Tea workers’ wages are set by tripartite negotiations between the government, employer associations, and trade unions. Pluckers’ pay has recently been increased from Rs83 (£1.10) a day to Rs121.55 (£1.60) with a bonus for every kilo plucked over 15kg.
As well as prescribing standards for housing, healthcare and education, the PLA regulates working conditions including maximum working hours, overtime payments, child labour, paid leave, and sickness and maternity benefits. The workers at Thiashola, like other estates in the Nilgiris, are mostly peasant migrants from the neighbouring state of Karnataka.
Thiashola Tea Estate and Fairtrade
Since Fairtrade certification in 2008, the estate has sold around 60% of its tea under Fairtrade terms. They have received enquiries from new buyers which will enable them to increase Fairtrade sales but are operating at full capacity and are now looking to buy a further 60ha of land to plant with tea to meet this demand.
Fairtrade standards include a minimum price which is calculated to cover costs of production and allow the estate to invest in sustainable production. The Fairtrade premium is an additional sum for workers to invest in social projects of their choice to improve their lives. Thiashola decided to became Fairtrade certified because of the positive impact it has for workers. Mr Vinay Devaiah, Manager, said: ‘We were keen to join Fairtrade as a means of giving something back to our workers. The Fairtrade premium is a means of empowering workers and is considered a goodwill gesture to strengthen the good relationship that exists.’
The estate has set up a Joint Body (JB) of 12 elected workers (seven women and five men) to supervise use of the premium fund, with practical assistance from management representatives in areas such as accounts and project management.
Sivanja is originally from Mysore in Karnataka and has worked for 21 years as a tea plucker at Thiashola. She has a girl of 21 and boy of 19, both in further education, and is member of the JB: ‘Working on the Joint Body has brought us workers together, we have lots of ideas and discuss them at lunch-time...The management guide and direct our discussions so we are happy with their help.’
Her fellow JB member Rajamma is also from Mysore. She has worked as a tea plucker for 10 years and has a boy of 11 and a girl of nine: ‘I am proud to be nominated by my colleagues as a member of the Joint Body and happy to take the responsibility. We are improving the conditions of our co-workers so I am very proud.’
Fairtrade premium projects
Although the estate was only recently certified, it received premiums worth Rs2,500,000 (£33,000) in 2008 and the benefits are already visible.
Cable TV
The first project was the installation of cable TV in all the workers’ cottages, including the Rs1000 (£13.00) connection fee and free monthly subscription.
Health
The PLA requires tea estates to provide basic healthcare and education for workers and their families in these relatively isolated areas. A doctor is available on the estate for three days a week and the premium is now paying for an additional doctor for two days a week. The JB has agreed to fund first-aid training for three workers from each estate section to help with diagnosis and treatment of patients before a doctor can reach the isolated estate.
It is also funding free medical camps once a month where workers have access to visiting specialists – an eye surgeon, dentist, and gynaecologist. This reduces the need for the difficult journey to the nearest free government hospital at Ooty, at least two hours drive away but up to six in adverse conditions. They also plan to buy equipment such as an x-ray machine and ultrasound scanner for the estate hospital to reduce these trips.
Sivanji said: ‘For women, having to go all the way to hospital at Ooty is a major problem. We want to get more medical equipment for our hospital so it is easier for them. We lose a whole day with the travelling so patients much prefer to attend the medical camps where they feel more comfortable.’
Electricity micro-generator
The electricity supply to workers’ houses is cut off at 6pm on some evenings, meaning children have to do their homework by candle light. There are also frequent power cuts during the rainy season when fallen trees bring down power cables leaving workers without electricity. To make the supply more consistent and available at night a new electrification project costing Rs800,000 (£11,000) has been agreed, scheduled for spring 2011. Existing power will be augmented by a mini hydroelectric plant whose turbine will be driven by a waterfall and each cottage will have two light bulbs connected to the new supply.
Rajamma said: ‘We have many power cuts in the rainy season and when it‘s windy. Once the electricity project is up and running it will help my children with their studies.’
Cooking gas
At the moment gas cookers and gas bottles are only available to 15% of workers and most workers still rely on firewood for cooking. The build up of smoke in the workers’ small cottages can cause respiratory problems, particularly affecting the health of the children and, after a hard day’s work, women spend up to an hour collecting increasingly scarce firewood from the forest.
In response, the JB approved a scheme to provide the rest of the workforce with gas stoves. Scheduled for 2010, the scheme will improve everyone’s lives and give women, in particular, more free time. Rajamma said: ‘The smoke from the fire wood sometimes burns our eyes and makes us cough. The children’s health has suffered… Gas cooking will help greatly as firewood is scarce and takes an hour each day to collect. I can spend more time with my children and take more interest in their studies.’
School bus
The younger children attend the estate’s primary school but older children must make the 15km trip to Manjoor. Forty to fifty children have to use the overcrowded government bus, which can be a particular problem at exam times when students sometimes arrive late.
The JB now plans to buy its own school bus to ensure children get to school on time. Rajamma said: ‘A school bus will be a great help for students. The government buses are crowded and uncomfortable and don’t arrive on time.’ The bus will also be used for shopping trips to Ooty on Sundays, the only day off for most workers, where they can make cheaper bulk purchases of better quality rice and vegetables than that available in local shops.
Scholarship scheme
The JB has established a higher education fund for college and university financed by the Fairtrade premium. The scheme is open to all secondary school students who are children of estate workers and covers tuition fees and part boarding expenses. So far 35 applications have been received and are being assessed.
Rajamma’s son is still at primary school but he’s an ambitious boy. He wants to be a government officer when he grows up but he would need to get a college qualification, which would be very difficult to afford on a tea picker’s wage without taking out a high-interest loan, which would be a struggle to repay.
Rajamma hopes that her son will be able to get a place at college with help from the new scholarship scheme that has been introduced: ‘We want to give our children the chance to grow in life and have a better life than us. So the scholarships are very important as they allow them to do this.’
Her comments were echoed by her colleague Sivanj: ‘The scholarship scheme is very important. A lot of parents can’t afford secondary education for their children so they have to give up their education and work on the estate or elsewhere.’
Computer training
Access to computer training is normally beyond the reach of tea workers so in April 2010 the premium will be used to purchase two computers and provide free training classes for children twice a week at the community hall, also a Fairtrade project.
Community hall
The JB approved a project to build a community hall that is already in use and due for final completion in the coming months. It is free for workers to hire for weddings and other social events and in their role as community leaders JB members hold monthly meetings where topics like health are discussed. A TV has been purchased particularly for workers to watch and discuss news channels and current affairs programmes. English language books, magazines, and newspapers are available to promote learning English – 95% can read Tamil but only 1% or 2% English – and the estate is donating tables and chairs. Sivanja said: ‘The community hall is very important for bringing people together to watch TV and discuss news and current affairs.’
Low-interest loans
In October 2009 the JB set up a low-interest loan scheme for workers to finance income generating schemes such as public telephone booths and sewing machines, or keeping cattle, goats and chickens to sell their milk, meat and eggs. The estate will provide cattle sheds for up to 150 cattle and will purchase the manure to supplement its composting scheme for organic fertiliser. There will be a ceiling of Rs10,000 (£130) at interest rates of around 4%, which compares very favourably with the 12% interest charged by local banks.
Tree planting
As part of a bid to tackle deforestation and climate change, the JB has agreed to fund a scheme to plant 400 saplings with each worker responsible for nurturing a tree.
Pension scheme
The JB is currently reviewing a proposed non-contributory pension scheme for workers when they retire at 60. It will give them the security of a monthly income, medical cover, and a lump sum to build a house when they return to their home village in Karnataka. Details of the benefits of the scheme can be seen in the Chamraj Tea Estate profile where a similar scheme has been in operation for some years.
Protective clothing
Male workers have been provided with shoes and raincoats and women workers with shoes and aprons to protect against rain. This is over and above the statutory requirements fixed by the government.
The workers at Thiashola are clearly enthusiastic about the partnership with Fairtrade and are particularly keen for their children to have more opportunities in life than they have had. These are their messages for consumers in the UK:
Rajamma: ‘I hope more and more people buy Fairtrade tea so that not only us but future generations can benefit.’
Sivanji: We will do our part by producing the best tea. We hope to sell more and more Fairtrade tea so that we can improve our lives.’
1
In Orthodox manufacture a machine rolls the leaf to produce large leaf particles, known as grades, traditionally used in high quality leaf tea. In CTC manufacture, instead of being rolled the leaves are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with small sharp teeth that Crush, Tear, and Curl. It yields more cups per kg and is widely used for quick-brew tea bags in the UK.
Fairtrade Foundation December 2009
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