@Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Active for healthy nutrition in tea origins
Social Commitment
Every year on October 16, WorldFoodDay, the United Nations draws attention to the food situation and hunger worldwide. The number of starving people could be further exacerbated by the corona pandemic. The Project Healthy Diets for Tea Communities was launched by ETP and GAIN and is supported by us and other tea companies. We want to use today as an opportunity to inform about this project.
Project: Healthy Diets for Tea Communities
Healthy Diets for Tea Communities is a coalition led by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), with funding from eight leading tea companies to address poor nutrition along tea supply chains in Assam (India), Kenya, and Malawi. The programme is co-funded by Unilever, Taylors of Harrogate, the Republic of Tea, Bigelow, Reginald Ames, JDE, Wollenhaupt and Ringtons. These brands want to support tea communities through a range of sustainability initiatives and are invested in improving the lives of the people who grow and produce tea.
Poor diets are the leading cause of global ill health and a driver of poor nutrition, leading to malnutrition and deficiencies such as anaemia, decreased energy levels, reduced health, and lower productivity. Tea workers and farmers often suffer from high malnutrition rates because their diets, which consist largely of staple foods such as rice, bread, maize and wheat, are often not varied and balanced, lacking foods rich in essential nutrients and vitamins needed for good health and for supporting the many physical functions needed for an active life.
@Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Healthy Diets for Tea Communities aims to improve the diets of tea workers, farmers and their families in Kenya, Malawi and Assam State in India. The programme works on different areas in each country context, but focuses on:
- Increasing demand for nutritious foods through interactive communication and education activities, which improve
people’s food knowledge and choices, for example training, street theatre or cooking demonstrations. - Increasing access to nutritious food through a variety of methods, including vegetable gardens, fruits trees and nutritionally enriched lunches at work.
- Improving the enabling environment by promoting the importance of investing in workforce nutrition programmes to businesses and governments.
Project Aim:
The programme aims to reach 877,000 people between 2020 and 2023: 175,500 farmers and workers directly, and 702,000 people indirectly, as farmers and workers share their knowledge with approximately four household members.
