Project targets living wages for tea farmers in Malawi
Organizations have put forward a set of measures aimed at securing better wages for tea farmers in Malawi, the second biggest tea producer in Africa. The Ethical Tea Partnership, Oxfam, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative and the German development agency GIZ are leading a project to establish a living wage following a study in 2011 that found some tea pickers in Malawi were only paid around $2 a day. The coalition hopes to help tea estates improve their productivity and profits and make more finance available to invest in improvements in return for a commitment to raise wages. They will also work with employers, unions and governments to agree phased improvements to wages and increase worker representation in negotiations.