Yercaud had thick canopy of forests during the 19th century. At that time India was under the British rule. Britishers were always on look out for cooler places to set up their offices. Yercaud which is 1500 mts up in Shervarayan hills and totally inhabited by tribes known as Malayalees.

They had very simple life style and they were self sufficient in terms of food. Their main dependence was on millets such as ragi, sorghum, corn and rice.

When British entered the region, the thick canopy of forests was destroyed. The lands were encroached upon or bought at throw away prices. Extensive coffee cultivation was taken up .With increasing demand at the international market, more forest lands were brought under coffee cultivation. This was the pre-independence stage. Post independence the lands under the British changed hands and it had new entrants of landed gentry.

The Malayalee tribes enjoyed the benefits of using forest and its produces like fruits, honey, soap nut, wild berry, tamarind, wood, gazing land, and herbal products. Now, the tribes are denied access to their own resources.

Huge tracts of land are held under each estate. Most of the community land also is illegally brought into the fold of the estates. This has been possible due to the connivance of the local government officials. Due to this encroachment the villagers do not have access to their own homes and have to detour atleast 5-6 kms of hilly tracts to reach their villages.

It is estimated that there are around 100 estates in the region. Their land holdings starts from minimum of 100 acres and many big estates have around 4000 acres under their custody.

In contrast the tribal farmers have land holdings of 1 to maximum of 10 acres which is a rare phenomenon.

The main source of sustenance for the Tribals is working as wage labour in the coffee estates. Lack of appropriate and minimum wages, no safety measures used while using extensive pesticides for the plantations, engaging children for all the sundry work in the estates, sexual exploitation of the tribal women who are engaged in the coffee estates are the major issues for the workers working within the coffee estates.

Around a decade and half back there was international boom in coffee market. All the small farmers in the region converted their small land holdings into coffee plantations. At that time Coffee Board which is a government body used to buy the coffee beans from the small farmers. But currently the coffee board is not buying the coffee beans and the small farmers are left at the mercy of the middlemen to sell their produce.

Whereas the estate owners have a strong association and strong marketing channel to sell their produce.

Coffee was found in Ethiopia prior to 1000AD, but Coffee only came into Europe in the 16th Century. In the 500 or so years since then it has spread around the world and become an international trade item. Instant soluble coffee was invented in 1901 and freeze-dried coffee granules called ‘Nescafe’ in 1938. About this time the market for coffee beans was extensive and so it was cultivated extensively by the British colonial rulers in the hills of India. At this time Yercaud was a canopy of thick forests. The British liked the hills which were cool and they exploited their time there by opening large numbers of Coffee estates. As the need for coffee increased, so the luscious forests were turned to coffee estates.