Eat Ethically The real impact of Fairtrade tea

Date Published:

23/02/2009

Fairtrade tea doesn't only benefit the growers; Kenyan farmer, Julius Ethang'atha, from the Michimikuru Tea Factory, tells Charlie Cottrell why it also has a vital role to play in fighting climate change

How long have you been a tea farmer?

I planted my first tea bushes in 1981 and started plucking the same in 1984. This makes it 25 years.

What did you do before?

In Kenya you can be employed and still farm or do business. So I was working for Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and still continued to do so even after planting the tea; I used hired labour to do the farm work.

How important is tea growing to your community?

Tea was and still is very important to my community as a cash crop. Until its introduction to the area in 1959/60 people were very poor and only used the little extras from subsistence farming to buy clothes. Today they use the money from tea to pay school fees for children, pay medical bills and build better houses.

How important is tea growing in Kenya?

Tea has been the most stable cash crop in Kenya and only competes with horticulture. It contributes about 6 per cent to the GDP; Kenya is the third largest producer of tea in the world after India and China and the biggest exporter of black CTC (a picking process - 'cut, tear, curl') tea in the world.

Do many Kenyan farmers work with companies that offer a fair price for tea, like Cafédirect?

Not many. In our sector there are only 10 factories which are registered to supply Fairtrade tea out of 60. Even then, only Cafédirect appears to have direct relationship with its producers. The others have to yet make a difference in this area as they still prefer to source their tea from the auction, making it continue to look like a blind market.

What impact does working with a company like Cafédirect have for tea farmers?

Producers are thrilled. It means they can build a future for them and their families. Because Cafédirect pay us both a sustainability allowance and a quality differential we are in a much stronger position. They also reinvest most of their profits into grower communities and it means they can help us in very many ways. We can sell our tea above the price of production and plan for the future. Farmers appreciate the support provided by Cafédirect and they can put a human face to trade. Farmers also very much appreciate the work that Cafédirect is doing in other areas such as climate change and energy saving which impacts us and the wider farming communities.

What is your experience of life as a tea grower before and after working with Cafédirect?

Tea has contributed to my wellbeing by providing the extra cash that is needed to make ends meet in life. I am better off. Cafédirect has been a boon in my life. It has offered me an opportunity to realise my life long dream of wanting to make a difference in communities in their social welfare and a better environment for them.

How much more money does a Fairtrade tea farmer earn compared to a non Fairtrade farmer?

The quantity [of tea] that goes through Fairtrade is small at 3 per cent of the total. Fairtrade has a long way to go to make a sales or trade impact. However, the social impact made by that 3 per cent is enormous, which may lead the farmer to think it is the total tea that goes through Fairtrade. The farmer from the non-Fairtrade area feels cheated.

What does that mean in terms of day to day living?

The farmer in a Fairtrade area has better access to social amenities and is better placed to plan and design his own life in such provisions.

Apart from a better price for tea what other advantages does working with companies like Cafédirect offer?

Cafédirect is in a class of its own as no other Fairtrade company goes that extra mile to look at the life of the producer from almost a holistic point of view. Through its unique Producer Partnership Programme (PPP) Cafédirect has made real friends with the factories it deals with. The factories have gone on to implement international [food safety] standards as in HACCP and ISO 22000. Cafédirect pays a higher minimum price than the other Fairtrade buyers, and negotiates these prices with the producers so that it always covers the cost of production.

What is life like for farmers who do work with Cafédirect?

It is a very warm relationship. This is a friend who is there for you in the good and bad times - when you need support, such as in meeting the FLO (Fairtrade Labelling Organisation) standards.

Are there any changes or improvements that you think could make the Fairtrade system even better?

Rationalising the FLO Certification inspections and audits to place more emphasis on actual trade issues and not on social issues.

The economic situation in the UK means people are spending less. What would you say to people who are planning to stop buying Fairtrade tea to save money?

I personally understand that people have to rearrange their spending. A story is told of a person who cries to God that he has not given him a shoe. As he walked along he saw a person without legs and he prayed to God to forgive him that he had not appreciated that he had legs in the first place. My prayer is that our friends will make this reason, to put a smile on the disadvantaged people, essential in their lives and so that they in turn can have reason to smile back knowing that they have positively impacted in the lives of other people somewhere in the world despite the belt tightening.

If people stop buying Fairtrade tea, what will happen to people who grow and work with tea?

It will devastate them. They may lose hope. They will get poorer. The gains in climate change awareness may be lost. There will be unabated degradation of the environment. We may not run away from it. All of us will be affected regardless of where you are in the world. It is a vicious cycle.

Find out where your money goes in Fairtrade - What are you paying for?

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