Trade Aid’s Organic fair trade tea range comes from the Idulgashinna Bio Tea Garden, in Sri Lanka.

Located near Haldummulla in the Uva region of central southern Sri Lanka, Idulgashinna has a strong regard for the environment; they were the first tea garden in the world to become organic certified, and much of their premium quality tea production is also biodynamically grown.

Idulgashinna covers an area of 459 hectares, 352 of which are planted in tea at elevations between 1000 and 2000m. Most of the rest of the land is covered in forest and buildings, including the garden’s own tea factory. 2300 people live within the project, 95% of whom are Tamil.

Numerous social development initiatives have been instigated, all devoted towards improving the lives of tea workers who have traditionally not enjoyed favourable living conditions and live at the bottom of the social and economic ladder; a recent report showed that of 450,000 people living on tea estates in Sri Lanka, half of them had no water supply, and had a living space of only 2.2 metres by 2.2 metres per person.

At Idulgashinna, the story is quite different. The plantation has its own schools, bank and medical centres. Newly constructed housing is spacious and residents are given the rare opportunity to own their own land. 71 staff are employed by the project to implement social development, also working on such enhancements as improvements to roading, electricity supply, sanitation, water access, and nutrition.

There is also a village integration program, which aims to ensure better communication and contact between Tamils and the majority (Sinhalese) local population; most Tamil tea labourers were brought in by British estate owners in the 19th century under indentured labour schemes and they have not integrated easily into Sri Lankan society. The project also challenges traditional perceptions by promoting women to positions of authority, which is still very unusual in a male-dominated industry.