Catherwood LibraryILR School

Plantation workers in Sri Lanka typically live below the poverty line and struggle to make enough money to feed their families. Plantation workers also experience significant levels of anemia, malnutrition, and alcoholism, and live in poor conditions with no access to proper medical care. Sri Lanka is a major exporter of coffee, later tea, and rubber, and around 470,000 workers currently live on plantations in the country. The two candidates running for President in Sri Lanka have both promised to give plantation workers more land and build better housing, but workers state that this promise has been made countless times before and has never been fulfilled. The candidates are trying to appeal to plantation workers as these workers make up around 3.5% of Sri Lanka’s population. Earlier this year, the government increased the minimum daily plantation worker wage to $4.50/day.