Talking Tea: Women’s Empowerment and Transformative Change in Sri Lanka’s Plantation Sector Kevin McParland, PhD Candidate School of Politics and International Relations, UCD. Field Director Shining Life Children’s Trust

The Plantation Sector in Sri Lanka  Tea sector is managed by both the corporate (35%) and the small-holder (65%) sector. After privatisation in the 1990s, most tea plantations were managed by private sector companies in the corporate sector.  The contribution of the plantation sector (production plus processing of tea, rubber and coconut kernel products), to the GDP is about 4.8% (Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2006)

The Plantation Sector- Current Concerns Poverty Headcount Index by Sector- 1990/ / / / /2007 Sri Lanka Sector Urban Rural Estate Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Planning Sri Lanka, Household Income & Expenditure Survey 2006/07

Daily life of Estate Workers  Estate Workers: Income and Expenditure  Daily Income: Rs. 515 ($3.63)  Working day: 7.30am-5.00pm  Workers required to pluck between 18kg-25kg per day  Costs of school fees, transportation and stationary costs for children in the Estate sector exceed Rs. 5,000 per month.  Milk power: Rs. 300

Empowering Communities in Kandy District & Rahatungoda Estate Development Projects  Goal:  To facilitate and create an environment to strengthen the position of women in society by addressing issues pertinent to them. This will be achieved through organising, raising awareness in the communities, through building their capacity, reducing victimisation, improving opportunities to engage in economic activities, increasing knowledge as well as to mobilise community’s inner capacity to provide mutual support to its members.

Estate Profiles  Both Estates managed by Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB)  Pupuressa Estate:  Total number of families There are 1077 houses (line rooms) in the area but there are only 643 toilets. During the project period, we worked in two sub-divisions: Pupuressa Upper Division and Pupuressa Lower Division. The total population of two Divisions was 320, with 80 families.  Rahatungoda Estate:  Total population of four target Divisions was 799; Total number of families: 193

Capacity Building Activities Issues IdentifiedActivities Implemented Need to strengthen WS as a tool for empowerment Monthly Group Meetings Increased engagement with Estate Management Incapacity of WS to deal effectively with external stakeholders Community Mobilisation Training Provision of birth certificates and NICs WS lacking opportunity to participate in community and cultural events Community Engagement Activities Lack of financial security and income uncertainty Programme on Financial Management Introduction of microcredit schemes Absence of sexual health awarenessPre-Marriage Counselling and sexual health workshops

Pupuressa Estate Women’s Society Meetings

Rahatungoda Estate Women’s Society Meetings

Community Transformation  Outputs: Delivery of Training programmes on sexual and reproductive health, early childcare development, nutrition, alcohol and drug awareness  Outcomes: Community monitoring detected improved nutritional intake, increase in home and community gardens, decrease in household expenditure on alcohol and monitoring programmes of child development have been implemented  Greater challenges remain in transformative outcomes in organisational and institutional bodies

Pupuressa Estate  “During FGDs with WS members on Pupuressa Estate at the end of the project, it was reported that the Estate Manager was a regular attendee at the WS meetings. This was conveyed with mixed feelings, for while WS members felt it was important to build partnerships and to communicate with Estate management, there was an underlying sense that the Estate Manager was monitoring the meetings in order to frustrate or veto activities that he felt uneasy about. WS members also reported that they could not express their true ideas, thoughts and wishes due to his presence.”

Rahatungoda Estate  Unable to successfully obtain documentation for the tea estate plantation workers who were identified as lacking documentation.  No microcredit programmes were permitted  Programme suspended by Estate Management following suspicion that women were attempting to obtain birth certificates and NICs.

Conclusions  Estate communities where women are actively involved, having equal opportunity and access to and control over resources and working in the areas of advocacy and policy influence to their own betterment, their families, and their communities  Underpinning approach is female-led programmes by devising a dynamic and holistic intervention promoting inclusion, advocacy and targeted intervention for their development.