Tea nursery in Malawi
Tea nursery in Malawi
MALAWI
Malawi is Africa’s second largest tea producer, after Kenya, but is also one of the world’s poorest countries. An estimated 62% of Malawians live below the World Bank’s extreme poverty line, and there is a lack of access to adequate nutrition for about half of the children. The tea industry is the largest formal sector employer in Malawi, employing 50,000 workers and providing livelihoods to more than 14,000 smallholders.
Tea estate jobs are considered good jobs in Malawi, paying above the agricultural minimum wage and providing a range of other benefits. In order to achieve a competitive and profitable Malawian tea industry, the new Malawi Tea 2020 partnership brings together the organizations that can deliver the changes required.
A coalition comprised of Malawian tea producers, trade unions, the largest international tea buyers, relevant certification standards, NGOs, and donors, the program’s goal is to achieve a competitive, profitable tea industry that can provide living wages and living incomes and improved nutrition for its workers by 2020.
The objectives include a more competitive and profitable industry that is paying a living wage to workers; a healthier, motivated, and productive workforce with greater opportunities for women; an improved smallholder sector where farmers earn a living income; an improved wage-setting process with greater work representation; and more sustainable energy use and an improved environment in tea growing areas.
Learn more from Elske Stevenson or visit www.idhsustainabletrade.com