socialmedian: Fairtrade is the best hope for India's tea producers

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Fairtrade is the best hope for India's tea producers

Source: guardian.co.uk Society

Nov 08, 2009

Summary

The Chamraj estate in Tamil Nadu is thriving thanks to the Fairtrade Foundation - but the same cannot be said for the south Indian tea industry

The price of basic farm commodities has been hammered over the past 40 years, placing unbearable pressure on farmers.

At the bottom of the food chain are smallholders. With processors, brokers, auctioneers, speculators and retailers all taking a cut, there is little left to pay the producer. The situation adds to the rural poverty endured by a third of the world's population.

It is why 15 years ago the Fairtrade Foundation started. The idea is to offer growers a minimum price to make production cost effective and then pay a premium on top, to be invested in social projects – normally education, health, environment, energy and pensions. How and where money is invested is decided by a committee elected by co-op members or workers on an estate or plantation.

The Chamraj tea estate in Tamil Nadu, south India, was one of the very first to be certified. The estate used to be run by the family who founded the Hoare merchant bank

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