What a perfect situation! Tea production is already further toward the win-win goals New Frontier has set for many of the local resources. Yesterday, my wife and I visited a village here in Sanjiang county known for tea production. At first, I assumed it would be like all the other crops, but it already has some distinctive benefits seen in few other places.
New Frontier has long noticed the emigration trends throughout the rural areas where we work. Most villages are comprised of people under the age of 15 and over the age of 40 or 50. Where is everyone else? "Da gong!" They have left the village to work in factories in Guangdong Province or to set up a life in the county seat.
The village we visited had a healthy balance of all age groups. Parents are taking care of their children (instead of grandparents as substitute "parents") and most children receive an average level of schooling. What has made the difference? Tea.
I was completely shocked to find out that not only are locals willing to stay at home and earn money picking tea leaves, but Dong, Miao, and other rural residents from around Sanjiang County have actually moved to the tea production areas to settle down and earn their living as well.
As the situation stands right now, tea pickers can earn a net profit of US$60 to $70 per month. A basic factory job in Guangdong has a monthly salary of US$200 to $400, but that is before sending most of the money home to the family, before food and lodging, and without the worry of whether the cut-throat Guangdong factories will pay workers' salaries or not. Plus, if more than one person in the family picks tea, the benefits of staying home and tending a tea farm far outweigh any possible compensation for the struggle of living away from home for work.
To top it all off, these farmers are able to continue applying their agricultural expertise instead of learning a new, mass-produced style of work. They are already accustomed to working outdoors, and picking tea is far from grueling. The bushes are chest-high for easy picking and the overall environment is beautifully refreshing.
It makes me want to become a tea farmer. This is exactly the kind of situation New Frontier wants to facilitate with local resources. This may be the best situation I have seen, but it can easily become better. Empowering local tea leaf collection companies to direct export by developing communication ties between them and end buyers will greatly increase the efficiency and benefit to local farmers, rural-based factories, and international tea companies. That is a win-win-win situation.
