Tea Plantation Companies Contribution towards Sustainable Development Goals: Qualitative Inquiry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not specific to one industry; they help every industry achieve a sustainable future. This study aims to investigate the contribution of Sri Lankan tea plantation companies towards the SDGs and how tea plantation companies enhance a sustainable future for their organizations. The qualitative research approach is employed under an exploratory research design. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from ten factory managers using a semi-structured interview protocol. And thematic analysis is employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that SDGs provide a universal and visionary framework for contributing to economic, social, and environmental factors and lead to achieving a sustainable future for tea plantation companies. The SDGs are relevant to tea plantation companies because those SDGs assign different weights to business practices. Goals such as no poverty, good health and wellbeing, zero hunger, gender equality, sustainable cities and communities, quality education, peace and justice, and strong institutions are important in the social dimensions. And also, affordable and clean energy, climate action, responsible consumption and production, life below water, life on land, clean water and sanitation are important SDGs in the environmental model. And decent work and economic growth, industry/innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, and partnerships are the SDGs for the economy. Further, the majority of the SDGs contribute to enhancing society and the environment. Intriguingly, it was revealed that the willingness of the shareholders to implement socially-oriented projects is a major problem in the tea plantation sector.  There is a scarcity of literature grades in SDGs in tea plantation companies in the agriculture sector. As a result, this research has delved deeper into tea plantation companies in the agricultural industry.