“Unity is strength, separation is weakness.”
Lucy Wanjiru Gatungu knows precisely what can be achieved with few resources and a powerful force of will. She supports her two children by growing tea on just half an acre of land in Kenya. Lucy is exactly the sort of person that the world of trade would usually exploit – her profits stripped back so that someone else grows richer. But as part of the Nyeri Tea Growers’ Association, she has strength.
“As an association, we have one voice… the association is fighting for our rights. There’s a Swahili proverb that says unity is strength, separation is weakness.”
With support from Transform Trade, the tea farmers of Nyeri recently took the Kenyan tea authority to court aiming to secure a minimum price for their green leaves and fight unfair price fixing.
“I have realised that as a collective, we have the power to push for better terms - KTDA (The Kenyan Tea Authority) will listen to us because we have one voice.”
It was a lengthy and complicated process… but in the end they won. They secured a promise of a 25% increase in the price of green leaf tea – not just for their group but for every smallholder farmer in Kenya.
The court ruling is just the start for the tea farmers of Nyeri – there’s a long road ahead to see it implemented, and many more changes to fight for, from regular fixed tea collection times to prevent waste, to equal gender representation on the board.
Joseph Mwangi Thuku has been growing tea for more than 30 years – and can attest that the court case has given growers not only more money, but more power:
“We can now easily interact with KTDA management and directors - we could not even get close to them. That regime was deadly - there is nothing much that we could do.”
Joseph put it simply – “The farmer has a voice.”
The achievements of the Nyeri Tea Grower’s Association are truly remarkable – they have proven that it is possible to challenge an exploitative trade system, and to win. But their story is about far more than tea…
Court cases will not be the right solution for every case of unfair prices, unsafe working conditions or abuse of power – but the example set by the Nyeri tea growers is inspiring. It shows that a small amount of support to the right group can have a transformative effect.
This is so important because the future of the fair trade movement can’t just be about things sold here in the UK.
To reach everyone, it has to be as much about smallholders selling their crops for fair prices at local markets, and tea collectives fighting back against price fixing from middlemen, as it is about international supply chains.
Your support can help us work with more inspirational collectives and businesses standing up against an unjust system – will you invest in a world were everyone, no matter where they were born, gets a fair deal from the trade system?