Sri Lanka in commodities exchange program
In a push to bring down production costs, Sri Lankan government is in talks with Russia, Kazakhstan and countries in the Middle East to exchange tea for essential commodities. The country is looking for materials like oil and fertilizer to prop up the ailing smallholder tea industry, where the output of tea per hectare has fallen more than 50% in the last six months. There are more than 500,000 tea small holders, and more than three million Sri Lankans depend on the tea industry, directly or indirectly, for their livelihood.