From farm to table: How infrastructure challenges affects local tea exports

Since arriving in the Ilam region of Nepal, it’s been hard to miss the sprawling hills of tea gardens. They line every hillside, and fill the views with lush, orderly rows of bushes. Tea is Ilam district’s primary export, and a key feature of the local economy.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit a tea factory, and see how it is processed to prepare the final product. The tea is first harvested all around the hills, and brought to the factory. There, it is wilted in large trays with fans blowing hot air underneath. Next, it is dried, then finally sorted based on size and the removal of waste. Smaller grains are used in tea bags, while larger leaves are used in steeped tea. The tea is then packaged, ready to be shipped around the world. 

Despite being one of Nepal’s primary exports, tea productionis still subject to various developmental challenges, and these challenges affect local economies. Primarily, Nepal lacks the infrastructure to process the tea for international export. This means that the tea is instead sent to India and China, where it is processed and labelled as “Made in China”, or “Made in India”. Because it is sent internationally by Indian or Chinese companies, the local Nepali farmers often do not see much profit.  Deepen, our guide, told me that this isn’t unique to tea. Nepal, being a smaller country in between two trading giants in the form of China and India, is largely reliant on imported goods. This reliance means that Nepal can be subject to high costs imposed by Indian and Chinese governments, as well as trade embargoes and low profit margins for Nepali farmers. Therefore, tea is one of many exports in Nepal that is largely influenced by foreign supply chains. 

Further, the local infrastructure challenges, like roads and power, have an impact. The factory we visited was surrounded by hills (as is 68% of Nepal), which have steep, muddy and rocky roads that are sometimes unable to be used after heavy rains. The only way that the product is moved is by truck, so the unreliable roads and long journeys to main cities, like the journey that tea has to make from the Ilam hills to Kathmandu, make exports expensive. Also, due to unreliable and expensive power grids, the factory is unable to transition to clean forms of energy, instead using wood power, which is high in greenhouse gas emissions and in labour power needed to harvest and prepare wood to burn. 

The process of tea production really struck me, because it was the first time I’ve ever seen how something so simple in my day to day life makes its way to my breakfast table. I got to interact with the faces behind this process, from the women who pick the leaves in the Ilam hills, to those who package the tea at the factories. So many people care so deeply along every step of the way of this process, and I would have never considered their efforts had I not gotten the chance to meet them. Watching them explain their livelihoods, and then hearing about the barriers that Nepali exports face opened my eyes to the challenges that take place in the supply chain that consumers often do not see, and the fact that infrastructure development is not just important to the daily lives of individuals, but to entire industries.  

Next time I sit down with a cup of tea with my breakfast, I’m going to remember the people that helped put it there, and the fact that the journey that it takes is not easy. We often have the luxury of not knowing where the goods we consume come from, but understanding the challenges that nations face in export is the first step to overcoming them. 

All photos were taken by the author. 

Nora Ziai is in the second year of a BA in International Development at the University of Guelph. 

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