The Hands Behind the Tea: Sri Lanka’s hidden human cost

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” – Virginia Woolf

In Sri Lanka, tea picking is all done by hand and it is women who do all the hard work. These tea pickers here are the unsung heroes of Sri Lanka. Their physically demanding, labour-intensive work – often under harsh conditions and in challenging landscapes – forms the backbone of one of most important industries in the country.

Not anyone could do this job. It is very specialised work and requires a highly-skilled and focused dexterity, to not only to select the newest, freshest leaves on the tea bushes – essential for making the famous and beloved brew, the second most consumed beverage in the world – but also to perform this selection at the highest possible speed they can endure. Leaving at dawn each day, they work for some 8-10 hours wading through the bushes, climbing up and down the hills – dangerously slippy in the rainy season – laden with heavy full bags of tea (around 20 kilos typically; four of these bags will make 1 kilo of dry tea), to the local weigh station. Many go barefoot or wear only flip flops, offering little protection from snakes and leeches.

While some larger estates provide housing, meals, and basic healthcare for their workers, the overall economic situation for many tea pickers remains precarious. Despite performing a role essential to the economy, they are rewarded with appallingly low wages and poor living conditions. They remain under constant pressure to collect as much tea as possible on any given day, to reward the industry and so they can continue to support their families and communities.

Despite many agencies and initiatives aiming to protect and improve the welfare of these female champions, much more effort, resource and commitment is needed to truly support these ladies that give us our much loved tea. I share my photographs and thoughts here to contribute the international call for change.

#InternationalWomensDay | 8 March 2026

"Looking deeply into your tea, you see that you are drinking fragrant plants that are the gift of Mother Earth. You see the labour of the tea pickers; you see the luscious tea fields and plantations in Sri Lanka. You know that you are drinking a cloud; you are drinking the rain. The tea contains the whole universe."