ILO News (Colombo)- Sri Lanka is world famous for its tea and has been producing and exporting tea since the mid-nineteenth century. The tea sector plays a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s economy as an important contributor o employment and export earnings. However, the sector faces numerous challenges, including, among others, rising cost of production, declining productivity, an acute shortage of labour in part due to outmigration and demographic shifts, informality, climate change and growing competition from other tea-producing countries.

The International Labour Organization Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives facilitated a National Dialogue on the Future of Work in the Tea Sector in Sri Lanka on the 14th June 2018. ILO senior experts on this sector from its headquarters in Geneva served as key facilitators. Participants represented government institutions, plantation companies and employers’ organisations, trade unions and tea smallholders’ cooperatives, academia and research organisations, civil society, UN agencies, and development partners. With over 60 participants with hands on expertise in the sector, the meeting was rich and proved a solid platform to share experience and knowledge on the challenges and opportunities for promoting a future of decent work. The Dialogue acknowledged that with the right policies and business models in place, the tea sector in Sri Lanka can prove resilient and showcase its potential to thrive, contributing to growth, jobs and women’s empowerment.

In her opening remarks, ILO Country Director Ms Simrin Singh noted that “there has been a lot of interest in this national dialogue given the pertinent themes of both the future of work and the tea industry”. She added that “the sector is clearly very important to the people of Sri Lanka holding a strong place in the countries socio-cultural & economic fabric. However time has come to look at the future of the industry given tough competition in the global market, climatic trends, and demographic shifts to name a few”.

Mr S. Arulsamy, Vice-President, Ceylon Workers Congress stressed that the “Tea sector in Sri Lanka is going through social, cultural changes. The young workers are moving away from the estates. We need to find ways to engage them in the sector through the right use of technology”.

During his note, Mr K. Weerasinghe, Director General of the Employers Federation of Ceylon thanked the ILO for commencing this timely dialogue on the Future of Work in plantations. "We need to adopt a holistic approach in managing the Plantation sector. It has to be sustainable and resilient", he noted.

Addressing the gathering, Hon M. Thilakarajah, Member of Parliament said "After 150 years of history in the tea industry, it's crucial we look at the future of our "workers". Today we are faced with a critical situation where we are moving away from tea plantation into other sectors without doing proper research."

Speaking at the event, the Chief Guest Hon Ravindra Samaraweera, Minister of Labour and Trade Union Relations stated that the "Tea sector produces 11% of direct and indirect employment opportunities in Sri Lanka. Through effective social dialogue among partners and use of appropriate technology we need to find solutions to address the issues facing the sector”.

The dialogue drew up a set of conclusions on the future of work themes relevant to the tea sector – sustainable rural livelihoods, climate resilience and adaptation, and women’s empowerment – pertinent to both the formal plantation sector and the largely informal small-holder tea farming sector. The future of the tea industry in Sri Lanka will indeed depend on effective macroeconomic, trade and social policies. Social dialogue and multi-stakeholder involvement, including ILO tripartite constituents, relevant government ministries, private sector, financial institutions and civil society is required, to achieve a sustainable Sri Lankan tea industry and decent work.

For further information, please contact: Mr. Asitha Seneviratne, ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives: asitha@ilo.org , Tel: + 94112592525 – www.ilo.org/colombo