Sri Lanka: Improving Life in Plantation Communities

Sri Lanka's central highlands offer stunning scenery - a carpet of lush greenery spilling over rolling fields and steep hillsides.  They are also home to plantations producing some of the world's best black teas as well as rubber and coconut. These plantations are still worked mainly by descendants of southern Indian Tamils brought to Sri Lanka by estate owners more than a century ago. While working conditions have improved with time, the industry still depends on a high level of manual labour for the daily harvest. Plantation workers, who number about 300,000, usually live on the estate where they work, with they and their families living in "line houses" located close to the fields.  

Understanding the context
The Tamil plantation workers who were brought to Sri Lanka in the late 1880s were generally confined to the estates they worked on.  Plantation companies, first British and now locally-owned, were responsible for providing social services like housing, water and health. Not surprisingly, estate residents became highly dependent on their employers for many of their basic needs and, with limited opportunity to interact with other Sri Lankans, they became socially and economically isolated.

Although Sri Lankan law now grants plantation workers full citizenship rights, low self-esteem, poor levels of education and language barriers often prevent them from fully understanding or exercising these rights. Schools are often under-staffed and estate children have few role models for alternative occupations, further perpetuating a cycle of dependency, isolation and vulnerability. Improving the lives of plantation residents is a priority for the Sri Lankan government.

Tea is one of Sri Lanka's most important agricultural exports but faced with growing competition, the country's share of international markets has been steadily decreasing in recent decades. This challenge, coupled with the growing reluctance of many young people to become tea pluckers like their parents, is forcing plantation companies to find new ways to increase productivity, improve working and living conditions and offer estate youth more appealing job opportunities.

How we're getting results
WUSC's Plantation Communities Project (PCP) brings estate workers, plantation management, unions, local NGOs and government departments together to take steps to improve the quality of life of the workers and their families. By bringing the knowledge and resources of all of these players together, PCP is helping residents on particpating estates to play a greater role in defining their own future - in effect, helping them to help themselves.

At the same time, the PCP also helps improve labour relations and boost productivity and profitability for plantation companies. This win-win approach has won the confidence of estate workers and management alike, a key element in WUSC's success so far.  

For example, with WUSC's help more than 10,000 plantation residents have successfully navigated the complicated process of obtaining basic identity documents like birth certificates or national idendity cards. With these, they can enjoy the rights and social benefits that other Sri Lankans take for granted such as opening a bank account, enrolling in school or travelling without fear of being arrested.

The project helps the workers organize themselves to tackle other social and economic challenges they are facing. For example:

• Over 80 women's groups have received training to help them plan and implement community initiatives on gender inequality, violence against women, and access to health services and clean water.
• Cooperatives representing thousands of estate workers have been created to work with management to improve life on the plantations through measures like the provision of banking services, improved housing, and income-generating activities in support of community initiatives.
• More than 50 Occupational Health and Safety groups have been trained to help improve working conditions and modernize the estates in order to meet the health and safety standards of overseas customers.

Read more about our results.

And to ensure the efforts of the estate workers and their organizations will continue to bring about positive changes in the future, WUSC staff work with them to secure long-term funding and establish strong links with local government and community agencies. 

Our partners
The success of the PCP depends on a strong partnership between WUSC and a variety of partners including various local community-based organizations, plantation management and the Government of Sri Lanka. It is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.