Abstract:
Among the leading foreign exchange-earning sectors in Sri Lanka, the plantation
sector plays a significant role. Within this sector, smallholder estate workers have
emerged as a prominent group contributing substantially to the country’s income.
Following land reforms, over 75% of exports in the plantation sector were identified
as coming from smallholder tea producers. This study aims to identify the economic
problems faced by smallholder estate workers and the root causes of those problems.
A descriptive cross-sectional mixed-method approach was adopted, and data were
collected from 65 smallholder estate workers in the Kottiyagala and Selvakandai areas
of the Bogawantalawa region, under the Nuwara Eliya District’s Norwood Divisional
Secretariat. Both primary data (questionnaires, case studies, interviews, and focus
group discussions) and secondary data (research articles and journals) were used.
Data analysis was conducted using the SPSS-26 statistical software. The findings
reveal several key issues: income insufficiency, lack of social support, absence of
welfare benefits, increased debt, substandard living conditions, high interest rates,
the exploitative role of intermediaries, poor productivity of tea bushes, inability
to negotiate fair prices, economic double burden, supply chain inefficiencies, lack
of technical knowledge, unstable tea pricing, high production costs, challenges in
marketing, exploitation of retired women workers, climate variability, limited access
to benefits, and job insecurity. Workers in the smallholder tea sector operate without
formal job protection or welfare support and are entangled in internal political dynamics
within the management system. The data confirm that smallholder tea estate workers
in the study area face numerous economic challenges. To improve their livelihoods,
local-level support mechanisms such as cooperative societies and labor unions must
be strengthened. The government should formulate policies that create equitable
environments for workers’ well-being, implement robust economic strategies, and
establish a subsidized pricing system for tea.
