STiR coffee and tea magazine

30 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 1, 2018 (February / March) players collaborate and commit to long term programming and share the heavy lifting. This is where communication is key; the industry cannot claim improvements without first contextualizing the scale of the problems it faces. One without the other opens all to scru- tiny and risk, as expectations are that buyers should be able to source ethically (that grand "Catch all" which defies complete definition) and now! What the tea industry should be demanding, of itself, is a less consumer-driven model and expand work on more holistic designs. We need to stop seeing the vagaries of tea production as an inconvenience to smooth commerce and understand that the reality is of a complicated, labor intensive, naturally chal- lenged industry as the best story of all. Through true collabora- tive and vertically integrated modelling we can actually sustain the industry, it's environment and communities more effectively and storyboard something attractive to consumers and build a potent weapon against industry attacks. Consider the context from those that live and breathe the gap between their reality and that imposed by the industry through standards every day. Further excerpts from origin "Currently there is not sufficient information relating to housing and sani- tation coming from certification... Having said this, in Sri Lanka as the management of housing and sanitation is with a third-party body named the PHDT. (Planation Housing Development Trust, a tripartite organiza- tion of the state, trade unions and the management companies) RPC's stay exempt from being audited on housing and sanitation…." And also from Sri Lanka (low-grown estate commentary) "...Audit teams have no idea of the local knowledge available. The language barrier is a big problem. If you look at a big estate (low grown Sri Lanka) factory has all facilities, washrooms, safety stations etc. BUT labor comes in and goes out 24-48 hours later, so they fail on the audit scoring system. (The context) 8 hours does not pay them enough SLRs800 ($5.2 daily average), given that they need to be bused in and out (4 hours there and back) so they would prefer to sleep at the factory (where social spaces are provided with this reality in mind) and earn SLRs2000-3000 for each trip away from home. Driving a three-wheel tuk-tuk bestows higher social standing than a factory." A parting comment from the weeds "The certifications want us to not use the chemicals and selectively weed bad weeds and leave the healthy weeds but these take up the fertilizer meant for bushes," explains a field worker in Sri Lanka. "We do not want to go into the field unless weedicides are sprayed because (deadly) snakes are in the grass…" The tea industry need only listen more! Tea workers in full protective gear prior to applying chemicals are the least effective Farm units. Further and a major point of both media commentary on Assam, it is easier to prepare for an audit but another thing entirely to uphold the tenets of that standard throughout intervening periods. At right is a picture of workers bedecked in required PPE (coincidentally walking through the gates of a certified estate as the writer visited) but in this neck of the woods where tempera- tures soar to the high 30's centigrade and the humidity is often above 90%, wearing of this heavy, non-breathing gear is not going to happen consistently. The reality is clear from the aforementioned documenta- ries (airing on BBC, ZDF among others). Should producers bear the blame entirely? No, they live in the here and now, having to cope with incessant pest outbreaks (some areas more than others) with the armory available to them, including the use of agrochemicals applied by diminishing pools of labor, and often in delicate atmospheres, fired by tribalism, unions, and more dangerous elements. Being less than authoritarian can sometimes be the only course of action, on the ground. So, how to help? As suggested, rather than audit for a pre-concept on agrochemical application, likely to fail, buyers should face the issue head on and consider what systemic changes can be made to combat this issue. w Production without chemicals w Lighter weight, breathable PPE w Automated (drone) application These require long-term commitment of resources which will only ever be practically achieved when all supply chain

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