John Chebochok’s election at Tegat-Toror

The election of John Chebochok

We have been shocked and deeply concerned that John Chebochok’s candidacy has been allowed to stand and he has been elected as a Director for the Ainamoi Zone for the Tegat-Toror small holder tea factory. 

His election constitutes a significant setback in the progress being made to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence in the tea sector. 

While Toror factory is not a major supplier, we do buy from them and they feature on our supplier list published here.

We are working through our networks and partners to understand the best approach to stop Mr Chebochok from taking a position of power — and to prevent such a situation occurring again.

Our approach

This election brings to the fore how much work there is to do to safeguard women and vulnerable people in global agricultural supply chains. It makes it painfully clear how much change is needed – and this will be the work of decades, not years. We can’t improve things unless we’re involved, and that’s why news of something going wrong in our supply chain doesn’t immediately result in us walking away from a producer, which can be harmful for the people reliant on our trade for their livelihoods.

A key foundation of sustainable trade is long term relationships at fair prices which value quality. This gives a tea producer, and us, the confidence to invest in projects there (as summarised in our Impact Report).

In situations like this, companies will often immediately stop trading with a supplier to try and limit reputational damage to their brands. We understand why but it’s hard to overstate the impact of suddenly cutting off some of the world’s poorest workers and smallholders from their source of income. So our first position is to work with a supplier, understand what’s gone wrong and support them to develop plans to put things right. If that’s not something they can do, we’d stop buying from them.

The situation in Tegat-Toror is sensitive and complex, and given it was an independent election managed in line with the laws of Kenya we recognise our limitations in directly intervening. But we also recognise our responsibilities as a buyer, to strive for a tea sector where everyone can work free from the threat of exploitation and abuse. As such we will continue to work with our partners to take whatever legitimate steps we can to prevent any further risk of abuse and the culture of tolerance to persist. And that now includes working with them to assess the best approach to stop Mr Chebochok from taking a position of power.

More broadly, we are also engaging with Kenyan Civil Society Organisations through our partnership with ActionAid. ActionAid International Kenya are part of the Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) who have been so instrumental in bringing the concerns to wider public attention and in calling for action. 

Partnering for change

This issue doesn’t stand alone and more widely, the smallholder sector in Kenya is hugely important to us and we know that it presents its own challenges, especially for informal workers, most of whom are women. 

In response to these challenges, we have been partnering with ActionAid, KTDA Foundation, ETP and Lavazza Professional in the Empowering Tea Communities project. 

The project has supported women and girls to address gender-based violence through training and establishing women’s networks. Women’s champions have been trained and have in turn trained other community members on sexual and gender-based violence prevention laws and policies, reaching 1,876 people so far. 

In 2023 the project started to bring key industry and government stakeholders together to give farmers and workers a platform to raise concerns and plan for improvements on issues including Sexual and Gender Based violence and children’s rights. The platforms have already been involved in following up on cases of rights abuses within the three tea communities and ActionAid has supported 153 survivors of violence to access justice through referrals to medical, psychosocial and legal support. 

While we are proud of the work that has been done, this project highlights how much need there is in the tea industry. As we come towards the end of this phase of investment we must evaluate and plan how we build on what has been achieved and expand the work into more communities and places where we buy our tea. That isn’t work we can do alone and we need the collective efforts of the tea sector and expert support from organisations like ActionAid to help us collaborate in what we recognise to be a long term plan to eliminate all forms of abuse. 

The wider context

In many agricultural industries, entrenched cultural and social norms and the often temporary and informal nature of agricultural employment can create a power imbalance between supervisors and employees which can leave women vulnerable to exploitation. Alongside this, women face unequal access to education, economic opportunities and agricultural employment. 

There’s no simple solution and the issue needs to be faced on many fronts. At a supplier-level, robust policies and management processes are required, along with effective mechanisms for women to raise concerns without fear of recrimination. Education and awareness programmes play a role in both addressing gender norms and stereotypes amongst men and boys, and empowering women to stand up for their rights. Programmes which address poverty and inequality help create a fairer, more equitable society where women are respected and empowered. Addressing the under representation of women in supervisory and leadership roles is another key element in creating safe, fair and equitable workplaces. 

As a business we always aim to use the influence of our purchasing practices to build a better, more sustainable tea sector and we’re proud of our long-standing relationships, which are a key element of our Sourcing Approach. These relationships give us the opportunity to work alongside producers and other partners to safeguard and protect the rights of the most vulnerable in our supply chains and communities we rely on.