LESTARI is an initiative to develop a sustainability program for the Indonesian tea sector, especially for tea smallholders who dominates the ownership of the national tea plantation area.
Achieving sustainability is a challenge for Indonesian tea sector actors. Climate change has a significant impact on the condition of national tea plantation, in addition to the issue of governance of the trade system which is not conducive for tea producers, especially for tea smallholders. These conditions make it difficult for them to maintain and improve their farms.
Together with related stakeholders, Lestari develops programs to assist tea producers in overcoming problems in realizing the sustainability of this sector. A series of activities were held with Business Watch Indonesia, the Komoditi Lestari Foundation, Paguyuban Tani Lestari, tea smallholders, companies, the government and other tea stakeholders to realize the sustainability of the Indonesian tea sector, especially of smallholder tea plantations.
The initial step taken in the Lestari initiative is to develop a sustainability standard in the tea sector. Lestari Standard serve as a guide for tea producers, especially tea smallholders, in implementing sustainable agricultural practices in their tea farms and sustainable processing practices in factories. The implementation of Lestari principles increases the quality and quantity of smallholders’ tea production, and furthermore, increase their income.
The Lestari Initiative also takes approaches to consumers, because we understand that public involvement in this initiative has a significant impact on achieving a sustainable Indonesian tea sector. Increased public awareness of equal opportunity and environmental issues provides support for sustainability initiatives. Public participation can be seen, among others, when consumers urge companies to adopt sustainable practices in their supply chains, and participate in sustainability initiatives movement.
The Lestari Initiative was initiated by Business Watch Indonesia, in collaboration with the Paguyuban Tani Lestari and the Komoditi Lestari Foundation, and with the support of Solidaridad.
BUSINESS WATCH INDONESIA is a national non-governmental organization concerned with environmental issues, sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility. Since its establishment in 2002, Business Watch Indonesia has a mission to democratize business practices and economic management towards sustainable development in Indonesia. Business Watch Indonesia has an extensive network at the international and national levels in both the private and government sectors. BWI has programs in the agricultural and plantation sectors that benefit more than 52,000 tea, coffee, cocoa, soybean, sugar cane, and vegetable farmers, spread across several provinces in Indonesia such as West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, and North Sumatra.
For tea farmers, Business Watch Indonesia has facilitated and assisted tea smallholders to build tea processing factories owned by smallholders and to produce made tea products, which provide added value to their fresh shoots, thereby increasing their income.
KOMODITI LESTARI FOUNDATION is an organization whose members are key stakeholders in the national tea sector who are committed to working together to strengthen the responsibility and credibility of various national and international CSR standards applied in the tea sector. This organization was founded in 2008 under the name National Reference Group on Indonesian Tea Sector (NRG). Along with its development, NRG was registered as an official legal entity under the name Komoditi Lestari Foundation.
NRG together with Business Watch Indonesia, and supported by Solidaridad, facilitated the formulation of the Lestari Standard which are guidelines for tea producers, especially smallholders, to produce tea in a sustainable manner.
PAGUYUBAN TANI LESTARI, an umbrella organization for tea farmer groups, which currently coordinates 6 farmer cooperatives, 505 Gapoktan (association of farmer groups) from 14 districts in Central Java and West Java Provinces. These two provinces are the largest tea producing regions in Indonesia. Paguyuban Tani Lestari has the goal of improving socio-economic and environmental and human welfare by strengthening the bargaining position of farmers in the national supply chain, cooperation and technical assistance from upstream to downstream.