Sri Lanka launched its “Ceylon Tea Village” national programme on Tuesday (July 15), a state-led initiative aimed at lifting the country’s annual made-tea production to 400 million kilogrammes while transforming the livelihoods of smallholder growers.
According to NewsFirst, the first phase covers 144 tea villages across the island, forming the start of a wider plan to establish 500 tea villages nationwide under the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure.
Alongside the production target, the programme is designed to push tea export earnings to US$2.5 billion, part of a broader strategy to modernise a smallholder sector that supplies a large share of the country’s tea. Officials say the effort will focus on improving the living standards of farming communities and accelerating the sustainable development of the industry.
Implementation is being led by the Small Tea Plantation Development Authority, together with the Sri Lanka Tea Research Institute, the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the National Plantation Management Institute.
Tea remains one of Sri Lanka’s most recognisable exports and a significant earner of foreign exchange, though output in recent years has run well below the 400 million kilogramme mark, leaving the new target an ambitious one for an industry contending with ageing bushes, climate pressures and rising input costs. The government is positioning the village-based model as a way to raise both yields and grower incomes at the base of the supply chain.
