Matrix+2-+Pringle

__ Background __ · Global tea production reached 3.5 million tons in 2006. · China, India, Sri Lanka and Kenya – are responsible for almost three-quarters of production. · More than half of the world’s tea is produced in China and India alone. · Almost 56 percent of all tea produced worldwide is consumed locally. And while world tea production doubled over the past 3 decades, demand is lagging behind, creating a situation of oversupply. · The global tea industry is also beset with problems. As demand has fallen behind supply, the price of tea has been dropping steadily for more than two decades, making it difficult for farmers to earn a living __ Social issues __ · Poor working conditions · Low wages/small holder seasonal workers · Pesticides are often applied without proper protection. Back pains, fractures from falling and respiratory illnesses are common as well as malnutrition · Women are subject to sexual harassment in Kenya and Malawi with no promotion · Kenya’s large plantations, workers earn roughly 3 dollars a day. This is about two-and-a-half times the minimum wage for unskilled employees · Respiratory and water-borne diseases -account for 60 to 70 percent of the diseases affecting tea plantation workers · Thousands of people working in the tea industry have left the plantations following threats by local residents, 14 people were killed on countryside plantation

__ Environmental issues __

· Significant biodiversity loss when high biodiversity areas such as forests are converted to tea plantations. · Logging for firewood to process tea, in particular, has caused extensive deforestation in countries such as Kenya, Sri Lanka,Malawi and India. · High energy consumption aggravated by often inefficient and outdated machinery · Abundant application of pesticides is also negatively affecting the local and wider environment (water pollution, reduced soil biodiversity). · Tea processing is energy intensive. Withering, drying, grading and packing tea requires 4 to 18 kWh per kg of made tea, which compares to 6.3 kWh for a kilogram of steel __ Hope __ · In 2007, Unilever, which buys close to 12 percent of the world’s black tea supply, committed to purchasing all of its tea from sustainable sources

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