Life as a tea farmer
- How long have you been in the UK?
- Is this your first time over here?
- Would you be able to give us a bit of background information on your tea?
- How long have you grown tea for?
- How does the tea you drink at home compare to Teadirect tea you are drinking here?
- It would be interesting to hear about the level of wages people receive as a result of selling tea through Fairtrade means compared to before?
- How are you affected by the world tea price?
- Do you have any other income apart from the price you get for your tea?
- Do you have to pay to send your children to school?
- Do you want your children to be tea farmers too or do you want different things for them?
- Do you have any songs about Fairtrade or tea?
- Can you say the words?
- What other structures or factors with regard to your business would be useful in helping you to expand and improve your business? Such things as access to sources of finance, marketing, opportunities for doing some of the processing yourself, investment in machinery and equipment that might improve productivity.
- So, some form of 'Fairtrade' bank to help you raise the money at decent rates of interest and payment facilities would be of benefit?
Life as a tea farmer
Question: How long have you been in the UK?
Cecilia: I have been here for 4 days. It is lovely to be here in the UK.
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Question: Is this your first time over here?
Cecilia: Yes it is my first time. My impression is that it's very cold and busy but people are friendly and very kind.
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Question: Would you be able to give us a bit of background information on your tea?
Cecilia: My tea is of a very good quality. When I pluck my tea I pick two fresh leaves and a needle to make sure it's the best quality. My tea farm is one hour on a bicycle from my house.
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Question: How long have you grown tea for?
Cecilia: About 11 years. I retired from being a village extension worker, but tea had more money which I needed to send my children to school. I regard tea as self-employment.
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Question: How does the tea you drink at home compare to Teadirect tea you are drinking here?
Cecilia: I use a steel pot or clay pot and boil water in it. I mix with milk, then I put the brown tea leaves (we don't have tea bags) into the water with milk then I put some sugar in as well. After 5 minutes I strain it and put in a teapot and in my thermos flask so I can drink it on my farm.
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Question: It would be interesting to hear about the level of wages people receive as a result of selling tea through Fairtrade means compared to before?
Cecilia: Before Fairtrade I got 55 Tanzanian Shilling for each kg, now I get 94.
Student: That's quite a considerable increase.
Biz/ed: Just to keep this in perspective, 1 Tanzanian Shilling = 0.0004938 GBP! So 94 TZS = around 5p (£0.046 to be precise!).
Cecilia: It takes about 10 minutes to pluck 1kg of tea, I am very quick at this.
Student: So around 30p an hour is what you earn. Is 30p an hour a good wage in Tanzania?
Cecilia: Tea gives a good wage but we need more to improve our lives and to send our children to school, at the moment this is very hard.
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Question: How are you affected by the world tea price?
Cecilia: I don't know much about the world price, but I know the price I got before Fairtrade was very low and now with Fairtrade I get a good price.
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Question: Do you have any other income apart from the price you get for your tea?
Cecilia: I also have income for milk from my cows and piglets. I look after the farm 2 days every week and pluck the tea 3 times a month. I also have 4 cows and 4 pigs to look after. I get up in the morning at 5am and I get milk from my cows - then I send the other milk to be sold, after coming home I make firewood.
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Question: Do you have to pay to send your children to school?
Cecilia: Yes I have to pay for my children to go to school, it is expensive. But if I can send them to school they will have a better life.
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Question: Do you want your children to be tea farmers too or do you want different things for them?
Cecilia: It is their decision, if they see that tea is more profitable, then they can be tea farmers. If they see they can do another job, then this is good. I don't know whether they will be able to earn enough from tea.
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Question: Do you have any songs about Fairtrade or tea?
Cecilia: Yes I do. We sing to thank Teadirect for the fair price. We work hard as we know we will get a good price and get paid on time.
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Question: Can you say the words?
Cecilia: "We are happy to have good price, and be sure we have a market, we are dancing for Fairtrade, we are happy with Fairtrade, we are proud to grow good tea for Fairtrade."
Student: Good words - Wish I could hear the tune.
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Question: What other structures or factors with regard to your business would be useful in helping you to expand and improve your business? Such things as access to sources of finance, marketing, opportunities for doing some of the processing yourself, investment in machinery and equipment that might improve productivity.
Cecilia: If I had more money I would buy more tea, I would wish for 4-5 acres of tea, this way I would have a better income. The tea growers have set up a credit and savings bank now, so I can get extra money if I need to. I only have to pay maybe 5% interest, the other banks are maybe up to 20-25% interest.
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Question: So, some form of 'Fairtrade' bank to help you raise the money at decent rates of interest and payment facilities would be of benefit?
Cecilia: Yes, we already have this, we have been able to set this up using the help and premiums from Teadirect.
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