Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate is no ordinary tea garden. Starting in 2000 to give back to our community, we sought an enterprise that would give the most people a living wage while protecting/strengthening our environment. Not content with the social programs already in place, our Cooperative (KSF)has established a revolutionary way of serving the community.

Co-operative
The Dairy farm co-operative started in August 2005. The co-operative is open not for the workers of the tea garden but also for the neighbors. Each member receives a milking cow which they pay back not in cash, but with milk and cow dung. This “barter” form of payback takes away the pressure of cash payments, making the co-op a very attractive scheme.

This program offered a unique form of supply for the company while offering real economic benefits to the farmers. It has demonstrated the impact that building direct linkages at the supply end can have, in terms of raising living standards for the poor and securing resources essential to the core.

Fahima Begum – The Pursuit of a Dream
Fahima dreamed of a decent house, but her husband struggled to meet the family’s basic needs. So, with a desire to help her family, Fahima joined the KKTE Dairy Cooperative in 2005. She took the ‘loan’ of a milking cow and sold the milk in the village market, and cow dung back to the garden. With the success of her first venture, she loaned more cows, and today she is the proud owner of a house made of brick walls, with a proper kitchen and sanitation. Both of her children now attend primary school and her home is lit by solar power. She has finally attained the home of her dreams; her “Shopper Bari”. Every time you take a sip of KK tea, you help an entire community live better.