Tea Estate Assistance Project (TEA Project)
〜For the improvement of the social situation of Tea Estate Residents〜
Basic information
| Duration |
May 2003 〜 May 2006 (3 years) |
| Region |
Central Province in the central mountainous district and Uva Province, Sri Lanka |
Target group
(number) |
Approximately 9000 households (workers and their families) residing in the 15 tea estates in the Central and Uva Provinces (mostly Tamil). |
| Associates |
Ministry of Plantation Industries of Sri Lanka and social service groups |
| Donor |
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) |
| Project budget |
JPY 99 million (3 years) |
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Project background
The plantation sector is one of Sri Lanka’s most important industries; however, in recent years, decreasing productivity is becoming a problem. This is due, in part, to the inferior living conditions of the plantation workers and their families. Plantation workers make up five percent of the total working population of Sri Lanka; most of them were born in plantations and have spent a large part of their lives there. Many of the plantation residents are Tamils, who were brought to the plantations from India by the British during the colonial period in the 19th century. The historical background, combined with geographic isolation, has socially, economically and culturally marginalised the Tamils living on the plantation from other communities in Sri Lanka.
Problems Identified
The residents of the plantations face numerous intricately inter-connected problems including: the lack of financial management capacity; alcoholism: unhygienic living environments; malnutrition in women and children: little desire to work among the youth: and dependence on plantation owners and outsiders. These problems stem from: limited access to social services; lack of communication between the management and workers of the plantations; and deficiency of organisational capacity and group consciousness.
Project Objective
Improvement of the plantation residents’ social situation through fostering their capacity to organise and empower themselves, while improving access to social services.
Main activities
| １） |
Awareness-raising campaign
Targeted at plantation residents, the programme aims to increase their understanding of, and participation in the project.
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© Harsha De Silva
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| ２） |
Creation of Participatory Teams (PT) and organisation of meetings
PT(s) are the key players of this project, and they provide links with the outside world. Each tea plantation forms groups comprised of 30 to 50 workers, non-workers, tea plantation staff and managers. In PT meetings, the residents share the problems they face, and all the members work together to devise counter-measures and plans to transform their proposals into concrete action. |
| ３） |
Participatory Team (PT) Training
To help PT members perform their activities, training is carried out in: record-taking and filing, formal and informal letter-writing, basic information-gathering methods (e.g. citizenship ID), etc. |
| ４） |
Fostering of cooperation between residents, managers and outside groups
Project orientation is carried out for social service groups (local NGOs, banks, education / government organisations) to elucidate the necessity of improving the living environment of tea plantation residents and to foster cooperation. |
| ５） |
Establishment of information centres
An information centre is set up in each of the 15 project tea plantations as the hub where people can access information related to social services. It is visited regularly by social service groups, and is also the site for PT training. The PT(s) will be responsible for creating action-plans for the usage and management of the centre. |
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