Making Sri Lanka's Tea Industry Sustainable

As a natural drink a cup of tea is loved by connoisseurs of tea around the world. Sri Lankan tea is also a part of the non-alcoholic beverage segment in the Global Food and Beverage market. This industry provides vital foreign exchange to the island, employment opportunities for scores of Sri Lankan female tea puckers and is a guardian of sensitive ecosystems apart from making Sri Lanka famous for Ceylon Tea. Hence, it is of vital national interest to make Sri Lanka’s Tea Industry a sustainable one.

Background

Becoming one of the important crops of the island, commercial tea planting began at the Loolecondera Estate in Kandy in 1867 and the tea plantations in the central highlands and southern lowland areas kept growing over the years making Ceylon Tea world famous. Today tea plantations cover about 200,000 hectares all over the island and a tea tour in Sri Lanka is something visitors look forward to.

So historically the Tea Industry had been a significant contributor to the economic development of the island as a tea producer and exporter of repute.

In later years, though the vibrancy of the tea industry dipped it remains a vital contributor to the GNP, generation of employment and foreign exchange earnings. It is of paramount interest to sustain the industry, not compromising on quality and its uniqueness.

Tea and Sri Lanka’s Economy

A direct and indirect contributor to the economy through various components of this multifaceted industry such as supporting the families on tea estates and direct and indirect employment to millions of Sri Lankans who are involved in the tea production and export value chain, Tea has been a major industry on the island.

Though other non-agricultural industries such as foreign labour, the garment industry and tourism gained momentum and overtook the foreign exchange inflow to the island, the tea Industry was the leader up to the early 1980s.

Today, Sri Lanka is among the top 4 countries of tea exporters in the world boasting nearly 1000 tea estates on the island. Many visitors who are tea connoisseurs opt to stay at properties like Tea and Experience Factory to savour the thrill of being surrounded by charming tea hills.

This prestigious position as a global tea exporter must be sustained and enhanced whilst retaining the reputation of the unique Ceylon Tea.

Challenges to the Industry

Several factors pose challenges to the industry in Sri Lanka such as economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Industry has taken various steps to address these challenges. There have been initiatives to reduce the cost of production, attending to climatic conditions through the adoption of smart agricultural practices, new and varied tea products, automation of operations and conservation measures.

It is noted that some of these initiatives had favourable outcomes like cost-saving initiatives. Certain others directly related to sustainability like climate change, depletion of land productivity and unequal profit sharing remain partly addressed.

The industry must focus on resolving these through stakeholder engagement, dialogue and out-of-the-box thinking and action.

Vision for future

To sustain and retain the glory of the industry, some crucial elements must be addressed responsibly.

• Conservation of land used for tea cultivation as land is open for degradation due to pollutants through fertilizer and soil erosion.
• Mechanization of manual processes
• Using out-rower systems
• Upskilling the workforce so that they have a career path.