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Who are the tea producers? |
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North India
Producer Group: Tea Promoters of India (TPI), Sanjukta Vikas Cooperative
Region: Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
TPI has been a pioneer in bringing environmental and social reforms to the tea industry. TPI is a Darjeeling-based family operation that manages six organic, Fair Trade tea gardens. In addition, TPI is supporting small tea farmers and helping them to get access to the market and a fair price for their tea.
The Sanjukta Vikas Cooperative was one of the first small farming initiatives in the plantation heavy region of Darjeeling. The land that cooperative members live on was a tea plantation in the early part of the century but abandoned in the 1950s. The community has since depended mostly upon subsistence farming of corn, millet, potatoes and vegetables. Small local sales of ginger, cardamom and oranges provide some of their income. TPI has been working with the Sanjukta Vikas Cooperative to help them develop quality standards and market their tea.
South India
Producer group: Sahyadri Farmers Consortium (SFC)
Region: Idukki Region, Kerala
The members of the Sahyadri Farmers Consortium in Kerala, India are predominantly marginalized small producers and members of tribal groups who have suffered from social and economic injustice for generations. The goal of the SFC is to bring economic growth and control to its members. The mountainous region of Kerala is environmentally sensitive and is experiencing massive erosion, deforestation, and acute water shortages each summer. SFC is part of the Peermade Development Society and their tea is packed by TPI in Northern India.
Sri Lanka
Producer Group: Small Organic Farmers Association (SOFA) and BioFoods
Region: Gampola and Uva, Sri Lanka
Our partners in Sri Lanka are the Small Organic Farmers association (SOFA) and BioFoods. The SOFA project began in 1993 with the vision to establish a prosperous community living in harmony with the environment, and today there are over 750 participants. The SOFA members are low income small land holders who grow a variety of foods including pepper, cloves and ginger, but tea is their most important crop. BioFoods acts as the processor and packer for all SOFA tea.
South Africa
Producer Group: Wupperthal Tea Association and Fair Packers
Region: Cederberg Region, South Africa
The Wupperthal Tea Association is a democratically organized group of small-scale farmers. Their land is situated to the east of the Cederberg Mountains in an area that is the driest Rooibos growing regions, resulting in both lower production and higher quality. Pushed off their ancestral lands during the colonial and apartheid eras to make way for large-scale white-owned plantations, Fair Trade offers hope and a chance for these small-scale farmers to reach markets formerly accessible only to plantations. The Rooibos is processed and packed by Fair Packers, a small-farmer initiative partly controlled by the Wupperthal Tea Association.
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