Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
FrancoAngeli Journals

Regular Articles

Early View

Economic Diversification for Women’s Livelihoods in the Tea Supply Chain: Insights from India and Thailand

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ecag2025oa19864
Submitted
marzo 30, 2025
Published
2025-11-20

Abstract

Northeast India boasts a long history of large-scale tea estates dating back to the colonial era. Assam is India’s largest tea production area and contributes over half of India’s tea products. The backbone of this industry is the tea tribe women who are tea pluckers. Despite their crucial role, these women face significant economic, social, and political challenges that need greater empowerment. Meanwhile, tea production in Thailand has expanded significantly because of increasing domestic consumption. This research employs qualitative methods to explore economic diversification and tea supply chains in Northeast India and northern Thailand, with a focus on enhancing women’s resilience. Data were collected via indepth interviews with 27 key informants in Assam, India, and 25 participants in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai, Thailand, between May 2022 - December 2024. Open coding and manual categorization are employed to organize and interpret narrative analysis based on diversification concepts. The study found that women workers in Assam rely solely on tea plucking, earning low wages due to a lack of educational opportunities and double-burden circumstances, compared to women in Thailand, who have more flexibility through diversified livelihoods.
Assam requires multi-stakeholder collaboration in both vertical and horizontal diversification.

References

  1. Alesina, A., Giuliano, P., & Nunn, N. (2011). On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough. Working Paper Series 17098, National Bureau of Economic Research. DOI: 10.3386/w17098.
  2. BASIC (2019). Study of Assam tea value chains. Bureau for the Analysis of Societal Impacts for Citizen Information (BASIC). Oxfam Germany.
  3. Barrientos, S., Gereffi, G., & Rossi, A. (2011). Economic and social upgrading in global production networks: A new paradigm for a changing world. International Labour Review, 150(3-4), 319-340.
  4. Bhattacharjee, A. (2025, January 16). Fading flavours: Assam’s iconic tea faces its toughest battle yet. The Assam Tribune. -- https://assamtribune.com/assam/fadingflavours-assam-losing-its-trademark-brew-to-existential-threats-1565005.
  5. Bhuyan, H. (2024). Status of the tea garden women workers of Assam: An analysis. International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 6(5), September-October. Doi: 10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i05.27004.
  6. Biswas, C. S., & Mukhopadhyay, I. (2018). Marital status and women empowerment in India. Sociology International Journal, 2(1), 29-37. Doi: 10.15406/sij.2018.02.00030.
  7. Carranza, E., Smita, D., & Aphichoke K. (2023). Gender-based Employment Segregation: Understanding Causes and Policy Interventions. Jobs Working Paper No. 26, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
  8. Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 13(6), Jul, 1241-1299.
  9. Department of Trade Negotiation (2023, March). Tea commodity and tea products. Department of Trade Negotiation, Ministry of Commerce. -- https://www.dtn.go.th/th/file/get/file/1.20220901358aaa86e2db260b359f2fc37f7a85c6161127.pdf.
  10. Dutta, P., Goswami, G., & Barman, H. (2021). Financial inclusion among backward communities: A study of the tea garden workers in Assam, India. Forum for Social Economics, 52(2), 203-218. Doi: 10.1080/07360932.2021.1999297.
  11. Dutta, P. (2022, August 31). Assam increases tea worker wages again, some smaller tea estates are disappointed. World Tea News. -- https://www.worldteanews.com/origins/assam-increases-tea-worker-wages-again-some-smaller-tea-estates-aredisappointed.
  12. Dutta, P. (2024, September 27). Challenges brewing in India’s tea industry. World Tea News. -- https://www.worldteanews.com/best-practices/challenges-brewingindias-tea-industry.
  13. Dutta, R. (2024, December 23). Assam tea industry facing crisis amid rising costs and declining exports. The Times of India. -- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-tea-industry-facing-crisis-amid-rising-costs-and-decliningexports-say-atpa/articleshow/116602721.cms.
  14. Fletcher, E., Pande, R., & Troyer Moore, C. (2017). Women and work in India: Descriptive evidence and a review of potential policies. CID Faculty Working Paper No. 339, December 2017. Harvard University.
  15. Greenhaus, J. H., & Beutell, N. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10(1), 76-88.
  16. Helmy, I. (2020). Livelihood diversification strategies: Resisting vulnerability in Egypt. GLO Discussion Paper No. 441, Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen.
  17. Hossain, I., Mathbor, G. M., & Semenza, R. (2013) Feminization and Labor Vulnerability in Global Manufacturing Industries: Does Gendered Discourse Matter?. Asian Social Work and Policy Review, 7, 197-212. Doi: 10.1111/aswp.12018.
  18. Kalarivayil, R., Chattaraj, B., & Nair, S. (2024). Precarity of place in the global south: The case of tea garden workers in Assam. Social Inclusion, 12, 7776. Doi: 10.17645/si.7776.
  19. Khanongnuch, C., Unban, K., Kanpiengjai, A., & Saenjum, C. (2017). Recent research advances and ethno-botanical history of miang, a traditional fermented tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica) of northern Thailand. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 4(3), 135-144. Doi: 10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.006.
  20. Lilja, M., & Vinthagen, S. (2014). Sovereign power, disciplinary power and biopower: resisting what power with what resistance?. Journal of Political Power, 7(1), 107-126. Doi: 10.1080/2158379X.2014.889403.
  21. Liu, L., Cavaye, J., & Ariyawardana, A. (2022). Supply chain responsibility in agriculture and its integration with rural community development: A review of issues and perspectives. Journal of Rural Studies, 93, 134-143. Doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.07.003.
  22. Magar, C. K., & Kar, B. K. (2016). Tea plantations and socio-cultural transformation: The case of Assam (India). Space and Culture, India, 4(1), 25-39. Doi: 10.20896/saci.v4i1.188.
  23. Mal, P., & Saikia, N. (2024). Empowering tribal women: A comparative analysis of matrilineal and patrilineal societies in India. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). Doi: 10.1080/23311886.2024.2360172.
  24. Marslev, K., Staritz, C., & Raj-Reichert, G. (2022), Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State-Labour Relations and Intersectionality. Development and Change, 53, 827-859. Doi: 10.1111/dech.12705.
  25. Mishra, N. K., & Tripathi, T. (2011). Conceptualising women’s agency, autonomy, and empowerment. Economic and Political Weekly, 46(11), 58-65. -- http://www.jstor.org/stable/41151972.
  26. Mohajan, D. & Mohajan, H. (2022). Exploration of Coding in Qualitative Data Analysis: Grounded Theory Perspective. Research and Advances in Education, 1, 50-60. doi: 10.56397/RAE.2022.12.07.
  27. Nandy, A. & Dutta, D. (2020). Unpaid care work and violence against women and girls at a crossroad: A case for behavior change of dominant social norms. India Inequality Report 2020, Oxfam India. -- https://www.oxfamindia.org/sites/default/files/2020-01/Oxfam_Inequality%20Report%202020%20single%20lo-res%20(1).pdf.
  28. National Human Rights Commission, India (2021). Constitutional and civil rights to protect Scheduled Castesand Scheduled Tribes from atrocities and the law against witch hunting. -- https://nhrc.nic.in/sites/default/files/Civil%20Rights.pdf.
  29. Northeast Today.(2025, September 5). Assam CM inaugurates tea tourism project at Durrung Tea Estate. Northeast Today. -- https://northeasttoday.in/northeast/assam/assam-cm-inaugurates-tea-tourism-project-at-durrung-tea-estate/.
  30. Rajbangshi, P. & Nambiar, D. (2020). “Who will stand up for us?” the social determinants of health of women tea plantation workers in India. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19, 29. Doi: 10.1186/s12939-020-1147-3.
  31. Rasel, S., Heijman, W. J. M., & Reinhard, S. (2022). Economic geography and entrepreneurial diversification in the agricultural sector. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 9(1), 347-370. Doi: 10.1080/21681376.2022.2074307.
  32. Riisgaard, L., Fibla, A. & Ponte, S. (2010). Gender and Value Chain Development. Udenrigsministeriet, Danida. Danida Evaluation Study, 2.
  33. Sabri, B., Rai, A., & Rameshkumar, A. (2022). Violence against women in India: An analysis of correlates of domestic violence and barriers and facilitators of access to resources for support. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 19(6), 700-729. Doi: 10.1080/26408066.2022.2105671.
  34. Saikia, R. (2020). Status of women in India with special reference to Assam. International Journal of Research Cultural Society, 4(5), May. -- https://ijrcs.org/wp-content/uploads/IJRCS202005049.pdf.
  35. Sarmah, P. R. R. & Upadhyaya, S. (2024). A Study of Opportunities and Problems Associated with Tea Tourism in Assam. International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology, 11(1).
  36. Saxena, G., & Ilbery, B. (2008). Integrated rural tourism: A border case study. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(1), 233-254. Doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2007.07.010.
  37. Sentinel Digital Desk (2023, September 28). Adivasis and non-Adivasis in the tea estates of Assam. The Sentinel. -- https://www.sentinelassam.com/more-news/editorial/adivasis-and-non-adivasis-in-the-tea-estates-of-assam-668787.
  38. Sevilla-Liu, A. (2023). The theoretical basis of a functional-descriptive approach to qualitative research in CBS: With a focus on narrative analysis and practice. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 30, 210-216. Doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2023.11.001.
  39. Sharma, I. (2018). Tea tribes of Assam: Identity politics and search for liberation. Economic & Political Weekly, 53(9), 74-78. --https://www.epw.in/journal/2018/9/notes/tea-tribes-assam.html.
  40. Sinha, R. N. (2022, October 17). Politics behind denial of ST status to 6 Assam OBCs. NewsClick. -- https://www.newsclick.in/Politics-Behind-Denial-ST-Status-6-Assam-OBC.
  41. Sugiardi, S. (2024). Economic diversification strategies to improve the welfare of rural communities: Literature analysis and practical implications. International Journal of Financial Economics (IJEFE), 1(5), 1014-1022. -- https://ijefe.my.id/index.php/economic/article/view/95/108.
  42. Thai PBS (2020, October 5). Tea of Chiang Rai won the global award. ThaiPBS. -- https://www.thaipbs.or.th/news/content/297076.
  43. Wolf, A. (2022). Beyond “Enclaves”: Postcolonial labor mobility to and from Assam tea plantations. Anthropology of Work Review. Doi: 10.1111/awr.12235.