Empowering Communities in Assam

Group activity Example

Why Did We Choose Assam?

As the home of our Assam Breakfast, Chai, Earl Grey and Assam Gold black teas, we know the rich soils of Assam produce some of the most distinctive and desirable teas in the world. Teas from Assam are rich and full bodied and full of remarkable malt, honey and raisin flavour, these are teas that cannot be replicated anywhere else. Unfortunately, the industry demand for extremely lowpriced commodity tea and unpredictable global weather events have put huge pressure on the region. The subsequent challenges faced by communities living and working amongst Assam tea estates have been well documented.

Our commitment to Assam’s tea heritage means we have chosen to dedicate our social impact support there. When we approached The Ethical Tea Partnership, they introduced us to this pioneering project which aligned well with our values and aspirations for the sustainability of this important tea region.

Challan Meeting with Women group of Harmutty T.E

What’s the Purpose of the Project?

The goal of the Plantation Community Empowerment Project is to contribute to a thriving tea sector, by improving the overall wellbeing, and encouraging the active participation, of living and working communities on Assam’s tea estates

Interaction with children during school observation in Dikom Tea Estate

Group work on Communication Skills

How Does the Project Work?

The Plantation Community Empowerment Project works through the creation of Community Development Forums (CDFs). The forums provide a platform for successful engagement and problem solving in collaboration with estate management.

The 3 year programme aims to reach 100,000 people residing on 20 tea estates, with a focus on women and youth. The target is to have 50% women and 30% youth representation in the Forums.

Following a successful pilot on 4 tea estates, the multi-stakeholder programme is now up and running on 20 tea estates across Assam.

One Year of Impact: What’s Happened?

The First Garden Management colloquium (or seminar):
Attended by funding partners, producer companies, tea estate management, pilot garden Community Development Forums, and the Ethical Tea Partnership.

Orientation of Garden Workers:
Participating tea estates hosted worker orientation sessions, with women comprising 45% of attendees. Attendees included representatives from estate management, health practitioners,unions, student bodies, teachers, social health activists, local-government, village defence personal, Indian Tea Association, The Ethical Tea Partnership, and more.

Recruitment of 20 Community Mobilisers:
All hired from within the workers’ community with 60% female representation. All roles are paid and started with a four-day offsite onboarding programme.

Community Mobilisation:
Community mobilisers went back to their gardens to begin their fieldwork. 728 community mobilisation sessions took place across 20 tea estates, with participation from 13,118 community members, 67% of whom were women.

Landscape Study Launched:
Qualitative insight studies, facilitated by The Ethical Tea Partnership, with participatory learning and sharing for community members to identify the issues, underlying causes, and possible collective responses. Findings will inform the projects baseline and development of the Estate Development Plan (EDF). Stakeholders include children, adolescents, elderly, transgender & persons with disabilities, as well as permanent and seasonal workers.

Landscape Study with the Women Group of Dekorai Tea Estate

Landscape Study with the Children and Adolescent Group at Dekorai Tea Estate

What's Next?

The next stage of the project will see completion of the Landscape Study, completion of a quantitative Baseline Survey, and continued Community Mobilisation. Followed by the continued formation of Community Development Forums (CDFs), and the rollout of an environmental training module (including conducting climate resiliency assessments).

We look forward to our ongoing collaboration with the Ethical Tea Partnership and to backing the continued progress of this important community project.