In Taiwan tea country, a scramble to adapt to extreme weather
Meishan/Taoyuan, TaiwanReuters Chien Shun-yih looks out over his withering tea fields in Taiwan’s picturesque southern Meishan township and lets out a sigh. A once-in-a-century drought last year followed by torrential rain this year have decimated his crop and left Taiwan’s tea farmers scrambling to adapt to the extreme weather changes. “Climate is the thing we […]
Tea under threat: Climate change and COVID land Nepal’s production in hot water
AADESH SUBEDI, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how labour and fertiliser shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic, combined with heavy rains and diseases, have damaged tea yields and quality – and cut incomes for small-scale farmers…
Kenyan Unilever tea workers escalate fight for reparations to UN
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation A group of Kenyan tea plantation workers who say Unilever failed to protect them from ethnic violence have escalated their battle for reparations to the United Nations. The 218 victims include the families of seven workers who were killed and 56 who say they were raped when armed men invaded the […]
UK’s Twinings reveals suppliers amid drive for slave-free Indian tea
Thomson Reuters Foundation UK tea firm Twinings published a list of the Indian plantations it buys from on Monday, citing the need for transparency to improve conditions in an industry experts say is rife with abuse. India’s tea industry, the world’s second largest, employs 3.5 million workers and studies have found many live in appalling […]