A company founded with environmental consciousness as one of its core principles, Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate Ltd (KKTE) is the first internationally certified organic tea estate in the country.
KKTE is doing all the essentials of environmental conservation by planting trees and organic farming. It is also using renewable energy.
The company says its organic production is releasing less carbon by using “nature-friendly inputs”, and using renewable energy including solar and biogas plants.
While very cognizant of the realities of climate change and the need for mitigation, KKTE’s approach is not that of reaction. In other words, it believes that organic farming should not be seen simply as a tool to counteract climate change.
“Climate change mitigation is not, and should not be, the primary objective of organic farming, but increased conversion to organic agriculture can contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” says the company CEO Syed Shoaib Ahmed.
Kazi & Kazi products on a supermarket shelf
It also brings important benefits, such as improved system resilience to the effects of climate change, maintaining or improving biodiversity on farmland, conserving soil fertility, reducing eutrophication and water pollution, and improving food security.
KKTE “broke the barrier”, said Ahmed, by establishing a tea garden on fallow land using innovative organic and nature-friendly farming methods.
“KKTE is the only tea company in Bangladesh, which has secured international certificates following strictly the compliance issues, in accordance with EU Organic Standard,” said the KKTE CEO.
Its farming and production complies with Regulation EU-880/2007 and 889/2008, NOP/USDA, Japanese Agricultural standard (JAS), Rainforest Alliance (RA), HACCP, Fair-trade and KOSHER.
KKTE uses only nature-friendly measures for pest and weed control, and avoids synthetic chemicals. “Moreover, to make bio-pesticides to prevent the pest infestation, all the ingredients are internally resourced,” said Ahmed.
"KKTE uses only nature friendly measures for pest and weed control, and avoids synthetic chemicals"
KKTE’s is also a composite garden with herbal plantation. The company also produces dairy and other agricultural products such as rice, wheat, corn, oilseeds, fruits, pulses and vegetables. All grown organically.
The company’s approach to mitigation and adaptation appears more holistic than initiative-driven. It has planted, the company says, millions of trees of indigenous varieties in barren lands in Tetulia, (where its gardens are located), converting them into “lush green field[s] which itself take[s] care of biodiversity.”
“A single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. This is one of the most efficient ways you can cut your carbon footprint,” Ahmed said.
The company also loans cows and calves to the local community, but allows for payback of the loan in cow dung and milk. This mitigates KKTE’s ever increasing need for cow dung as one of the major ingredients for making bio-fertilizer.
“Use of biofertilizer and Vermicompost improves the soil quality through increasing soil organic carbon, which not only enhances carbon sequestration but also improves water retention capacity,” said Ahmed.
Saqib Sarker is journalist at Dhaka Tribune.
Kazi Anis Ahmed, Director of Kazi & Kazi Tea Estate Ltd, is also the publisher of Dhaka Tribune newspaper, which publishes Climate Tribune.