Following the Leaf: the value chain as a comprehensive approach for Ilam's Tea Development.

Abstract (English)

This ethnography investigates and compares two cooperatives of tea farmers in the Ilam region of Eastern Nepal. I will demonstrate how their economic and social system can be conceived as a practical necessity and reaction to the existing condition of structural deficit that affect the economy of tea in Ilam, but also in neighbouring Darjeeling, India. Such relatively novel grassroots movements have developed in Nepal roughly from the early 2000s, and represent a positive interaction of multiple actors: ONG, certifying organic or ecological agencies like Agriterra, semi-governmental organizations such as Nepal’s Central Cooperative Federation, and naturally the involvement and initiative of local people and tea experts. In another sector of the article I will also tackle the issue of tea global supply value chain, and the influence of sustainable agriculture standards on the economy of these cooperatives and their farmers. Both of them present meritorious advantages and also sometimes burdens to the livelihoods and economic potential of tea farmers across the Ilam region.