Hi friends! I’m finally here with another instalment in the SustainabiliTEA series! This profile is different from the rest because for the first time, I’m focusing on a person rather than a farm. I reached out to Rajah Banerjee, who pioneered the organic movement in Darjeeling and since he has experience with two farms, I wanted to talk about what he has done without limiting myself to specific tea farms.

After receiving my questions, Rajah realised that most of the answers were in his book: The Rajah of Darjeeling Organic Tea and very kindly sent me a copy, so most of my information is from the book!

Makaibari and Rimpocha

So who is Rajah Banerjee and what is so special about the farm Makaibari and the brand Rimpocha?

Rajah Banerjee’s great-grandfather set up Makaibari, one of the oldest tea farms in Darjeeling, and it was subsequently developed into the first organic and first certified biodynamic tea farm in the world. One unique thing about Makaibari is that it was started by and for four generations, run by the Banerjee family, who are Indians and not British.

In 2018, Rajah set up Rimpocha to help marginalised small farmers, in particular, women farmers who are the most exploited. They’re currently working with small hamlets in Darjeeling to help them grow artisanal teas as a surplus of their food sustainability. With Rimpocha, his dream is to make India the organic food bowl of the world, taking his work at Makaibari a step further. As with Makaibari, Rimpocha is part of the UN Agenda 2030 (the Sustainable Development Goals) and the aim of Rimpocha is to work with these farmers as partners in the venture.

What is the UN Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development Goals?

I’ve mentioned UN Agenda 21 twice now, so let me talk about what it is! Agenda 21 is an action plan by the United Nations that came from the Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992. There are basically four sections to this agenda:

1. Social and Economic – to combat poverty and achieving sustainability
2. Conservation and management of resources for development
3. Strengthening the Role of Major Groups – one of the goals here is the inclusion in women for sustainable and equitable development
4. Means of Implementation

Agenda 21 was reaffirmed in the Sustainable Development Summit in 2021 and was the basis for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). There are currently 17 SDGs:

1. No Poverty,
2. Zero Hunger,
3. Good Health and Well-being,
4. Quality Education,
5. Gender Equality,
6. Clean Water and Sanitation,
7. Affordable and Clean Energy,
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth,
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,
10. Reduced Inequality,
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities,
12. Responsible Consumption and Production,
13. Climate Action,
14. Life Below Water,
15. Life On Land,
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions,
17. Partnerships for the Goals.

Planet: Why organic and biodynamic?

Since Rajah pioneered not just organic farming but also biodynamic farming in Darjeeling, the first thing I wanted to know was: why organic? And why move to biodynamic?

The drive to organic started while Rajah was in Makaibari. One day, while he was walking in a distant part of the plantation, he found a pheasant which had died of insecticide poisoning. He observed this pheasant and noticed a wild cat that fed on it died, and subsequently, a panther that fed on the wild cat died. It was a wake-up call of how chemicals had effects down the food chain that no one anticipated!

Spurred by this, Rajah secretly tended a patch of neglected a patch of tea the organic way. The quality from this tea was exceptional and with that, he managed to convince his father, who was then the boss of Makaibari, to switch to organic fertilisers!

Later on, Rajah visited Dornach with his friend and buyer, Kiran. There, he encountered the work of Steiner, who came up with the concept of biodynamic farming and it resonated with him so much that he adopted biodynamic farming principles. This paid off because after five years of organic certification, Makaibari was accorded the Demeter certificate, the trademark for biodynamic products, making it the first tea plantation in the world to achieve the honour. 

There were a few other sustainable farming methods that Makaibari practices that struck me while I was reading the book, namely:

• Mulching: the practice of placing loppings of vegetal matter on the ground between tea bushes. The mulch takes the impact of rain and prevents soil erosion, while also stymieing weed growth and preventing the evaporation of soil moisture during drought. As it decomposes, it converts it into soil and continues to nourish the tea plant.
• The fact that two hectares of virgin sub-tropical rain forests surround every hectare of tea
• Vermicomposting using earthworms, which on the advice of a friend of Makaibari, they introduced at the beginning of the monsoon. Using earthworms to create compost helps to create healthier soil, which is probably obvious to you but not something I realised before.
• The village ladies also carried out an afforestation scheme. Each household would raise 25 varieties of indigenous trees, one of which would be bamboo and one of which would be a fruit and Makaibari would buy the saplings and plant them in designated areas. These helped the households establish a direct connection with the groves.
• The afforestation scheme also taught me about the importance of bamboo, both for tea and for the people in the area. Tea nurseries are raised under bamboo frames and picked tea is carried in bamboo baskets. At the same times, babies are carried in bamboo cribs, livestock are houses in bamboo sheds and bamboo is used in religious rites upon death and for prayer flags. It’s a vital part of their everyday lives and something that needs to be managed carefully – as seen by its place in the afforestation scheme.

Sidenote: What is biodynamic farming?

Developed by Rudolf Steiner, the basic view of biodynamic farming is that the farm as a whole is an organism and therefore should have a closed, self-nourishing system. It is one of the first organic farming methods and the biggest biodynamic certification is the Demeter biodynamic certification system, given by the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International.

People: How involving the local community makes a difference

I have mentioned before that it makes a difference when the people working in the farms are hired on a permanent basis and not seasonally (see: Satemwa Tea Farm). Well, in Makaibari and in Rimpocha, the people working in the tea farms are not only permanent workers, they are treated as partners in the process of making tea.

Early on, Rajah was inspired by Gandhi to introduce biogas as a renewable, non-polluting source of fuel for the community. He installed a unit in Makaibari, but the system failed within months. Fifteen years later, he met a worker who was putting in additional effort for his cow – a move that did not make much economic sense because the worker could earn more working overtime for Makaibari than what he would earn selling milk from the cow. However, a conversation with the man revealed that his ownership of the cow made the work worthwhile. With this understanding of the importance of personal ownership, Rajah re-instituted the biogas scheme for individual families and it was a roaring success, showing the importance of empowering workers as small business owners.

Another thing about the community at Makaibari that I found really liked is the Makaibari Joint Body (MBJB). The MBJB is an elected committee with members from seven tea villages which is responsible for all the social development criteria in Makaibari and the villages surrounding Makaibari. A premium from tea sales is set aside for projects such as microloans for small start-up businesses, building waterborne toilets, training paramedics, afforestation projects with the World Wildlife Foundation, and so much more. The MBJB is another avenue for female empowerment, as many of the successful schemes were managed by women.

Where to learn more about Makaibari and Rimpocha

As I mentioned at the start of this profile, this is a rather unusual post because it features a person, and also because a lot of my information came from a book rather than the normal interview. But through reading the book, Rajah’s passion for tea and for empowering his community really shone through the pages.

If you’re interested in learning more, I really recommend the book The Rajah of Darjeeling Organic Tea – Makaibari. I’m also going to link to a few sources below, including a video on why Rimpocha exists and the Wikipedia article that I found useful in understanding more about Agenda 21.

Rimpocha Website

Video on Rimpocha

What is Agenda 21