LIDL’S KENYAN TEA HRIA IS THE FIRST CARRIED OUT BY A UK FOOD RETAILER, WHICH BUILDS ON LIDL’S COMMITMENT TO MITIGATE THE MOST ADVERSE IMPACTS WITHIN ITS SUPPLY CHAIN AND TO FURTHER ENHANCING POSITIVE IMPACTS IDENTIFED
Key Findings
Summary of Impacts
This table summarises some of the most salient positive and negative impacts identified through our desk-based research and field assessment.
Right(s) Impacted | Activities in Supply Chain | Rightsholder(s) | Impact Type | Summary of Impact(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Right to adequate standard of living (livelihoods, housing, food, water) | Small co-operatives | Smallholder farmers | Negative | Tea price volatility coupled with variable costs of production can lead to the constraints on basic facets of life such as access to water, labour, education/school fees, health. |
Estate operations | Workers, estate residents | Negative | Low wages and a move towards increased mechanisation on tea estates impact workers and estate residents' ability to access an adequate standard of living. | |
Working conditions | Estate operations | Field workers | Negative | Casual labour is a common labour arrangement and payment is normally according to piece rate, leading to long working hours. |
Right to health | Social investment and social responsibility activities by producer organisations | Tea growing communities | Positive | Some estate health facilities have extended healthcare provision to non-workers in tea growing areas. |
Discrimination (gender, access to land and financial resources) | Tea producer CSR activities and investments | Women | Positive | Financial literacy and business skills training provided through experts, supported by tea companies. |
Smallholder co-operatives | Smallholder farmers | Negative | Entrenched cultural barriers to women’s land ownership in Kenya, meaning women can work or even run farms, but frequently enjoy no direct representation within the producer group because they are not the landowners. | |
Right to civic participation | Smallholder co-operatives | Smallholder farmers | Positive | Tea companies support tea growing communities through organisation and political representation & advocacy related to policy decisions affecting the sector. |
Mitigation Plan
We have developed an action-orientated, time-bound mitigation plan, in collaboration with multiple stakeholders, to ensure we address and mitigate the most adverse negative impacts and further support the positive impacts identified in this HRIA. As part of this plan we are open to working beyond our direct supply chain to ensure we also strengthen sector level, systemic change.
For more detail on this action plan, please download our full HRIA report at the above link.
Objectives | Mitigation Plan Pillars | |||
Scaling up the impact of certification schemes | Engaging directly with Kenyan stakeholders | Adapting our purchasing practices | Supporting systemic change in the tea sector | |
Objective 1: | Explore collaborative opportunities to increase positive impacts of certification schemes. | Continue to engage with stakeholders, local partners and MSIs included within the HRIA and feedback learnings. | Strengthen buying practices to go beyond certification requirements. | Continue to develop supply chain transparency. |
Objective 2: | Continue sourcing of certified black, green and rooiboos tea and increase overall proportion of certified fruit and herbal teas. | Engage in initiatives and projects with local stakeholders. | Support mitigation of the impact of price volatility on rightsholders through business practices. | Test specific interventions to mitigate risks associated with smallholder famers and women. |
Stakeholders: | Certification Partners | Tea supplier(s) Civil society organisations Trade Unions | Lidl commercial & CSR team Tea supplier(s) MSIs | NGOs MSIs Civil society organisations |
Next steps & Progress report
We are using key findings and learnings from this assessment to inform HRIAs in other countries, commodities and contexts and will continue to refine our methodology for future HRIAs.
In addition, we have also now published our Kenyan Tea HRIA progress report. This outlines the actions taken by Lidl to implement the timebound mitigation plan, the planned next steps against each mitigation plan objective and case studies of our pilot projects.