Fairtrade fortnight started yesterday and there are various activties up and down the country here in the UK.
I have possed the question, HOW FAIR IS FAIRTRADE on a few online forums and got three responses.
Of the three responses, two felt that Fairtrade is not as fair as it could be. The other felt Fairtrade is not fair but goes somewayto bringing about change for framers in the developing world.
By the end of yesterday I had another question based on the level of response I got.
HOW MUCH DO FOLK IN THE WESTERN WOLRD KNOW ABOUT FAIRTRADE?
Then I came accross this article today
http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=45772
The article in part appears to provide an answer to my question. people here in the UK do not know much about Fairtrade seemingly because the government has not done enough to publicise it,both by way of benefit to the environment as well as a means to sustainable and dignified ways of poverty.
This doesn’t come as a surprise to me. This is because in November 2007 I attended an event that was looking at encouraging outward investment into African countries and happened to sit next to a guy from the Fair Trade organisation. I asked him how the female producers at Ethnic Supplies could go about registering with Fair Trade. He looked me in the eye and told me that Textile and handicrafts are not included.
My question therefore is if the Fairtrade foundation does not recognise textile or handmade fashion accessories, how can the public change it’s buying habits?
In other words how can fairly traded fashion be perceived as cool and fashionable if the powers that be do not advocate for it?
I would like to hear from anyone who has views on this matter?
About ethnicsupplies
I think you are looking for the World Fair Trade Organization. http://www.wfto.com/ the source of authentic Fair Trade
The 100% world change variety.
The WFTO is a global authority on Fair Trade, not because we say so, but because our members make it so.
Membership of the WFTO is limited to organizations that demonstrate a 100% Fair Trade commitment and apply its 10 Principles of Fair Trade. WFTO members who are monitored against these Principles are listed in the FT100 index of world-leading Fair Trade brands, businesses and organisations. Not just the pioneers of the movement but the innovators of the market.
The WFTO represents Fair Traders from grassroots through to the G8 and is the authentic voice of Fair Trade, having driven the movement for 20 years. It is the only global network whose members represent the Fair Trade chain from production to sale.
You might also like to stuble upon this http://www.worldfairtradeday09.org/
Many thanks for commenting on my blog.
I am however unsure as to whether this was a genuine interest in helping me to answer questions I have about fair Trade or simply an opportunity for you to publicise the WFTO.
Would it surprise you to learn that I was speaking to a coffee farmer in Uganda today who earns 8 pence for each pound of his coffee beans and has never heard of organisatiosn such as yours?
no. wouldn’t surprise me at all. The World Fair Trade Organization, was born out of the International Fair Trade Organization, formally known as the International Fedaeration of Alternative Trade. This body that has evolved over 60 years from orgnanizations like SERRV in the USA is a collection of members, all of hich have different names. Fair Trade has nothing to do with Governments who have only recently shown an interest. It is propelled by individual communities and independent networks that have spawned and mutated over decades. The recognized Fairtrade label only came into being in 1994 but there are a plethora of them around the world managed by the Fairtrade labeling organization. The 10 principles of Fair Trade were agreed by the two major organizations in Fair Trade – namely WFTO and FLO. Neither of which are mine, nor am i member. I was jyust trying to point you in the right direction. I have been involved in Fair Trade for many years and dealt with the launch and strategies for growth behind Cafédirect for most of that time. I know growers in Uganda, rwanda and Tanzania as well as Peru and Chiapas in Mexico. I am now meeting artisans and producers from across Asia, but have a lot more learning to do. Welcome to a fast evolving values-driven movement with quite extraordinary potential. R
Good to know that your cynicism is hard earned. If you want to hear powerful criticism of Fair Trade just talk to anyone who is serious about it. Fair Traders know that for most people Fair Trade just means fairer trade. But for some organizations that it means total transformation of their community, for many women it means liberation and for millions of consumers it means a way to vote for change. It is easy to knock Fair Trade but it is tough to find a better set of operating principles. There are people in the USA, like Jonathan Rosenthal who has been working with banana cooperatives and has ideas for ‘reversing the engine of business’. Producers have part ownership in Cafédirect. Pauline Tiffen, a Fair Trade founder has been working with the Ethiopian Government to trademark the coffees and is bringing the power of intellectual property rights to bear on behalf of culturally rich/cash poor communities, We have been working to introduce successful entrepreneurs into cooperative communities to help solve problems through skills sharing, and we are helping to create local brands. Farmers own 50% of US Divine. There are hundreds of people and organizations that go so far beyond Fair Trade it just has to fill you with hope that change is coming. Let’s just hope it is not too late.
You are most certainly speaking the same language as me Robin and I thank you for sharing what you know on this topic.
Equitable trade is certainly away forward for folk in the developing world.
You make an interesting point on skils sharing as my friends and I set up a scheme http://www.lethemhelpthesmelves.org to encourage people to share their skills with folk in the developing world.
thanks
Let me introduced you to some good active people for are lauching a producer’s own brand in the Houses of parliament in a couple of months. LYFE Lorna Young Foundation Entrepreneurs R
projectmanager@lyf.org.uk
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room!”
I first heard that from Anita Roddick (i think) where does it come from?
Hi there
As Robin says – we work with projects to go Beyond Fair Trade. Because we are such a small charity we also often feel frustrated that enough simply isnt being done…like any business sector, the Fair Trade world would rather hear nothing but glowing praise, rather than the odd bit of criticism. But having said that, we have encountered some real stars in the business world who have cheered us along (though has to be said, most of them are not 100% FT for a variety of reasons…)
We are doing lots of ankle-biting and real, practical stuff that not only champions FT and the need to steam ahead of FT, but that also help not only the producers in developing countries, but communities in the UK too.
Lucy Siegle mentioned our Oromo Ethiopian DIRECT TRADE enterprise in the Observer on Sunday – http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/22/fair-trade-ethical-living
So we are getting somewhere. Just not fast enough for us impatient sorts! Great to hear your views!
http://www.lyf.org.uk http://www.lyfe.ac
Hi Chris, Robin and of course Ida
Like Ida I am very cynical about Fairtrade branding and the whole supply issues. Unlike Ida mine isn’t hard earned through direct experience but rather as support for enterprise and development anywhere in the world.
I want to recount a scenario that unravelled a few years ago when I was still refering people, growers and projects to Fairtrade.
In Malawi/Zimbabwe a development worker had created a project of Salt harvesting, all the licenses and associated permissions had been obtained and the village workforce in place. Now the issue was it took a day to walk to the salt beds, two days to harvest and two to bring the harvest back. This was all done handrolically.
When we worked out the value paid for the harvested and locally processed salt only half of the workforce could have been paid a reasonable living wage for them and their family. Fairtrade were the supply chain, to earn $1 3 kilo’s of salt had to be prepared and three kilo’s of pure table salt would have sold in the US or UK for significantly more.
This wasn’t an isolated project, I won’t go into into the supply chain mark ups, but when disease dessimated the workforce the villagers were left to their own devices.
What has to happen is more Direct trade, with real prices paid for the product and on top of that the price at this end to be maintained at a level where those on lower incomes can purchase goods at competitive prices through a direct supply chain.
I appaulled the effots of the organisations you represent but remember almost 1/3 of the world bearly gets a deal in trade, and less than a 1/4 gets a fair deal.
Great to read your comments and Ida as usual powerful blog
Mark
Hi Mark,
Salt mines: It would be very hard indeed to “compensate” pay miners a fair wage in any real sense of the word. Why?
As well as compensating them/paying a fair wage, for the salt you would need to take into account the occupational hazards they face.
A couple of years ago a story broke about workers in a salt mine in SW Uganda, suffering terrible wounds on their legs as the salt had eaten away their skin.
I had been to this salt mine the previous year as part of a family holiday. Incredibly the workers didn’t appear to be wearing any protection
Hi Mark
I think we are strongly agreeing. The Fair Trade that has been my education of the last 17/18 years is all about direct trade. Building strong direct relationships cutting out middle man, building visible producer, producer owned or producer directed brands and sales channels. The Fairtrade you refer to is Fairtrade rather than Fair Trade and by that you mean the label. The label is only one component of the story. The real value will come from thriving producer businesses and communities and to realise that, we will need transparency. No middelemen.
Yup – am in agreement – the problem tends to start when we become to au fait with Fair Trade being a label and a case of ‘we must only buy THIS product because it has THE label’. Its a fantastic guarantee – no doubt about that, but the story of what to buy, what to support and why is more complex.
Thats why we are also very much about breaking into local markets. Example – if you have ever lived, or travelled extensively in African countries you will be all too aware of how impossible it is to buy locally produced tea or coffee – even when its growing all around you. Its mind boggling – the LYF really aims to support growers so that they can firstly produce and sell to their own communities, even dead simple and cheap stuff like getting a tea packing machine can be priceless.
Labels are great only if they tell the whole story Chris, but sadly this is not always the case. A label cannot tell you the sort of hazards some of these people face.
On my last trip to Uganda Sept 08, I read about a man who had been attacked by a croc, whilst out fishing. I am not sure if this is the case but I understood that Spain was importing fish from Uganda at some point. How much would you compensate for that sort of thing, even if you wanted to?
it terms of buying locally produced tea or coffee, I am not sure about other countries, but Tanzania, Uganda and kenya package their own coffee and tea that is availalble in lcoa shops/supermarkets in most towns. In fact I get some each month and ahven’t bought Tea or coffee here in the UK in such a long time.
Someone I know started a label of chocoalte in Madagascar and the aim was to promote Value addition. This meant that value was added to the cocoa beans by turning them into fully packaged chocolate before they left Madagscar. To date that chocolate sits comfortably on most supermarket shelves
That is very helpful Robin,
I have worked on a coffee farm as my paternal grandfather was a coffee grower ( I was 7 years old) and I can tell you that putting a label on a packet of coffee does not mean that a farmer received a fair wage for their produce nor that no child labour was not used in the production process.
Ironically I was approached by an independent coffee roaster who is considering “changing his ways” by working directly with the farmers in Uganda and sharing his profits with them. Having learend about my work in East Africa with textile and handicraft producers he is very keen to set up something similar for coffee growers.
Yes it is a steep learning curve for most folk but I am encouraged by steps being taken in some quarters
As my favourite saying goes,
if you enjoyed this blog please take a look at this one too
http://ethnicsupplies.blogspot.com/
I do not understand why the guy said fairtrade does not apply to textiles when I know of companies who sell fairtrade clothing and accessories. An example http://www.hattitrading.co.uk/static/Fair_Trade
Am I missing something here? But ah… there is Fairtrade and Fair Trade
Many thanks for the email, I will drop tehm a line in the morning
@“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room!”
I bought a copy of The Telegraph in 2007 and it contained a booklet issued by the DFID on International development
and that statement pretty much set me on my way to what i am currently doing
Hi Karen,
The whole issue of Fairtrade is confusing as far as I can tell. Certainly in Tanzania handicrafts and cotton textile was not certified although the crop was!
I was in Uganda last month on a coffee trail and this is what I found
http://ethnicsupplies.blogspot.com/2009/06/in-search-of-ethical-coffee-are-we.html#links
Fair Trade has not stopped evolving and it is evolving right now. With increased demand for a fair and sustainable global trading system, fair trade is in a spotlight and under scrutiny. It is my belief that the whole concept of fair trade is about to take a leap and boy does it need to. The Sustainable Fair Trade Management System, designed by Heinz Werner for the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) could be that leap. It certainly deals with issues associated with fair trade as it stands and it is potentially a universal tool. But the fair trade movement has to get behind it if it is to be the mechanism for global and holistic change we are all looking for.
Hi Chris,
These things take time but what is important is commitment to bring about change.something that I beleive is worth striving for is equity. Ok the coffee houses may argue that they have more overheads, but I certainly know that decent coffee/tea etc can be produced in Africa for instance.
Granted I am fortunate that unlike other folk I can get tea and coffee directly from Africa and do not rely on Faritrade in UK.
The notion of value addition is very close to my heart. If we take coffee beans as an example, there are until turned into coffee powder there are completely useless and so are grasses that are turned into usable baskets by Ugandan or Rwanda women.
My ideal situation would therefore be one of value addition at source, so that governmetns there can generate more income by way of taxes and so that the farmers can earn more form their produce.
It pains me to see that farmers have to pay to have a labels stuck on their coffee/tea/bananas etc in order to expect a decent wage.
If you are up to sharing your experience etc that would be great
Hi Robin,
I think scrutiny will be an important part in this equation to prevent growers in the developing world being taken advantage of. On the ground certainly in the coffee industry there is a lot work to be done. here are some of the pics from my visit. I was horrified to learn that the worst coffee co-op we visited is affiliated to both Cafe direct and Fairtrade foundations.
I would argue for a system that saw value added to coffee and cocoa, prior to export. That in mind should be the absloute aim for all involved in making the system fairer for growers and their countries
no doubt you know of the Oromo coffee company http://www.oromocoffee.org in Ethiopia that seems to be administrated by refugees settled in the uk. interesting model, great yirgacheffe coffee. Also, i wouldn’t be surprised to hear of some disappointing cooperative experiences associated with Cafédirect – the model always was to maximise quality throughout their partnerships and bring in new producer groups that are really suffering. I’m not sure if this is what you have witnessed but i, personally, have seen amazing transformations on the ground that are directly associated with Cafédirect. There is a great history here and it would be sad to think that might be undermined by your (recent?) experience. I’d be keen to know more and maybe to hear Cafédirect’s response. Where was the cooperative you visited?
Yes, I know about Oromo Coffee, Chris and Ian told me a great deal about it and the people I went with to Uganda went to the launch of Oromo.
The coop I am referring to is in SW Uganda in place called Bushenyi and it identified on the photos at this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/31043307@N02/
Whilst the coop executives were happy to have the involvement of both Cafe Direct and Fairtrade, their working conditions are dire. I took my concerns to the coffee development agency in Uganda and they have tasked me with finding the money to help them regenerate such factories. I have spoken to Ian about this and he felt it is a tall order!
I do agree with him. My question really is why both Fairtrade and Cafe Direct allowed things to get so bad.
I haven’t approached either as I honestly believe it would be a waste of time so I am still looking around for possible funding sources that I can tap into to help help me help these growers.
If you have any ideas I would love to hear them
Really interesting report here. It strikes me that the main problem is that there is insufficient margin in the bulk cafedirect type coffee products to bring about the change you want to see.
I am not an expert in coffee, but I suspect part of this is because there are a large number of fairtrade coffees in the main markets and cafedirect is not one that sells for a higher premium.
Having thought reasonably hard about the issue in the clothing industry, I’d suggest that producing a bulk product is unlikely to work. For me, if you are going to go down the route of export products, you need to be looking at generating extra premium – perhaps by offering superior single-estate coffee (or something). Or maybe not growing coffee at all but looking for another – more specialised – product with a better return.
With reference to the fairtrade issue, the problem is confusion. As you’ve discovered, there are two parallel systems – one for small co-operatives producing handicrafts and one for farmers growing bulk materials.
It seems to me that there is an increasing feeling that the latter is ineffective at best.
That would be great as the farmers and coffee roasters I spoke about earleir are looking to do something similar and my role is to bring them together.
They could share information contact etc
Yes, we know all about second hand clothing exports – see our recent report about the issue.
Again, I’d maintain the margins are the issue in these products. Cafedirect is a non profit. The Fairtrade Foundation is the certifying body so isn’t actually importing anything themselves.
Cafedirect are the good guys, if there was extra money available to invest they would give it. Which makes the whole issue even more worrying – if the non-profits are struggling to make the changes, what hope is there for all those supplying the large brands whose only interest is profit?
Just to be clear, Cafédirect is not an ‘on the face of it’ business. It was started by grower cooperatives and has driven the UK market. I have visited Bushenyi a long long time back, i remember it as a tea region with pockets of coffee growers. I’m not sure what Cafédirect’s commitment is here but i do think it is time to introduce them to this debate and get the story from the horse’s moth so to speak. Certainly Gumutindo in East Uganda is a cafédirect case study and growers from Uganda publically support of CD all of the time
I know the people working on Malagasy. I think it is a good model, but it is struggling to make much impact in a crowded market. I’m not sure how well it is working in terms of the number of people it supports. It also requires very significant investment – and it is not clear to my mind where this would come from, given the risks implicit in building factories.
Just across the border, you’d have found KDCU in Kagera District, home of the inimitable Alivera Kiiza who works with cafédirect but, more importantlt, emancipates women through her good work with Emiliana at the cooperative, on the other side of the lake, you will find KNCU one of the oldest largest cooperatives in Tanzania and probably Africa, with whom cafédirect have worked well with an issues of quality, sustainability and climate change (KNCU is Kilimanjaro which is being hit hard by global warming). Is a great sadness when a great organization gets mixed in hazy confusion. There are stunning stories of pioneering endeavour that started before the Fairtrade label was dreamed up. No doubt they have their issues but let’s not confuse the model Fair Trade co with the rest of the pack. Once Cafédirect is in your blood it is impossible to get it out.
I would guess it very unlikely DFID will fund a project with a co-operative that already had a fairtrade certification and a contract with a major British fairtrade brand. There are plenty of worthy projects seeking funding with far less than that.
Excellent post, and excellent conversation. Great to see everyone engaging in such a positive way.
Personal opinion, formed mainly as a consumer though influenced as a journalist:
Fairtrade is a brand: “the sticker” as mentioned before. I’d guess most ppl in the UK know about Fairtrade and understand on a basic level that it means the original grower/artisan get’s a bigger cut of what you spend in the western shop.
Nice, but I reckon it has it’s limitations (sorry Robin!) and it’s these ppl don’t necessarily understand.
For instance, there’s the hoary old chestnut of GHG emissions. Fairtrade is great, but I can think of better things to do with my money than heat the planet up even more.
Then there’s the whole socio-economic thing. Fairtrade does little to break the pyramid where western society buys from less “developed” communities. So colonialism and the Victorian trade empire continues: it’s just economic now instead of military.
Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem w/ Fairtrade and buy as often as I can. I think the help and support the WFTO gives is wonderful and I want to cut out the middlemen as much as possible.
But I just see it as a step on the road to sustainability, not a solution.
Best wishes to all
Developing countries can do it! First they have to decide where they want go in the long term a strategic plan, unfortunately there is pressure to react on a day to day, because they do not have luxury of high GDP per Capita (and tax revenues)compared to the rich countries.
Identify their competitve strengths, or core competences and target the right markets, these are are necessary elements for the making of a plan to raise investments and key partners, that encourages trade and investments.
Resources can be made available, if the plans are carefully thought out and have a team that instills confidence.
Raise profile to entice investments, raise value to develop “value add” activities/trade and then this will result in raising wealth and increase GDP per capita.
Hi everyone,
I work with Ankole Coffee Producer’s Co-operative Union Ltd, which is the only fairtrade-certified coffee co-operative union in Bushenyi, South-West Uganda. The co-ops that belong to ACPCU Ltd are long-time suppliers of coffee to Cafedirect, and to many other fairtrade buyers. I forwarded the weblink with the photos to ACPCU’s manager, John Nuwagaba, and this was his response:
“I have managed to download the pictures but what I have seen is shocking and completely wrong.
“First of all, the bags shown in the picture are not of coffee but coffee husks. This can be proved by the spillage of husks on the floor. Try enlarging the photo the truth will come out. What is shown in the second photo are again husks which were kept in abandoned/disused store zoom the photo and it will show you that what is indicated as coffee is actually husks. The third picture shows a disused store. There are no signs that people were using the store and grass is overgrown. There is no society under ACPCU can keep its coffee in such store with doors that don’t close as the coffee would be stolen immediately.
“ACPCU does not own a processing factory in Mitooma.”
I hope this clears up any issue of Cafedirect buying from organisations that don’t store their coffee properly.
Hi Ida,
My contribution was to pass on the words of John Nuwagaba, manager of ACPCU Ltd. All the words in my contribution which are in quotes are John’s words, not my words. I don’t think it would be helpful for me to comment any further at this stage, but I will draw your questions to John’s attention.
I am always suspicious of big business, and to me Fair Trade is a marketing opportunity for large 1st world retailers to increase their margin by cutting out 3rd world wholesalers and buying direct.
However it does have to be said that the consumer does benefit from better quality control, and lower prices. The BBC film about Tesco buying Mange Tout from Zimbabwe was a good example of this – the buyers were able to drive the price right down, as the farmer had no one else to sell to, just as the villagers who had their pay cut for the following season had no other employer to work for.
Hello Nick,
Welcome to the dsicussion. Some of these issues are not straight forward as the BBC programme demonstrated.
I would question the whole idea of quality control though, especially as it applies to crops like coffee and cocoa, as value is added in the west and not at source.
Did you see this from the EU http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article6609953.ece
Yes – I saw that ….. and even posted on it! http://www.pimlico-flats.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=651
It’s a good argument that the quality standards applied by large retailers may not truly represent quality as perceived by the consumer.
I actually live in a “Fair Trade Town” (Stroud). I don’t know what that means – but my own assumption when I see the label, is that more of the marketing profit is going to the 1st world.
Nick, As I understand it Fairtrade twons are those where the town council/city hall only uses Fairtrade certified products Tea/Coffee mostly in their canteens, although some go as far as paying people that sell these products to appear at local sales events.
Last Wednesday I met teh folk at Blue skies, and they have taken the whole issue fair trade by having value added at source and they operate in several African countries, take a peak at their website http://www.bsholdings.com/ they also have this website where customerhttp://www.caretrace.com/s and growers are able to connect, communicate etc
Neill Kelsall, is working on a smilar idea in Mozambique http://www.raisetrade.com/
I looked at websites produced and maintained by UK Co. – what does it say when African farmers have to pay Europeans to represent them?
Hi Joe,
Welcome to the discussion.
IMHO I don’t think bulk or margins are the problems in as far as coffee is concerned. Our findings indicated that in Uganda at least the coffee industry is in dire need of regeneration. The importers of Ugandan coffee are simply doing that and not passing on skills that the growers need to improve their chances of earning a higher income, I regret tor eport that some of those are Fairtrade and Cafedirect who on the face of it want a better outcome for the growers.
In relation to clothing producing a bulk product may or may not work depending on the textile that you are dealing with as well as the country. The biggest challenge in the textile industry is that we in the west send our second hand clothing to the developing world and in some developing countries this has put cotton growers for instance out of business, since the demand for their product has diminished.
In addition we in the west are increasingly demanding cheaper clothing and as such companies like Primark are doing very well thank you. High end hand made clothing does not come cheap and those that can afford it or understand it are in the minority so where do we go from here.
One way I would put forward is to promote sustainable fashion from renewable sources. Uganda for instance has pioneered an interesting fabric made from the bark of the tree, the trees are not cut down during the production process and with time the bark grows back. Whilst Madagascar, has capitalised on wild silk that is naturally occuring in the forests out there.
Oh don’t get me wrong I don’t doubt Cafedirect are the good guys and in fact despite the conditions of that factory the people there seemed happy with their affiliation with cafedirect and are hoping to increase share take up. I can’t say the same about another individual whose name kept coming up everywhere we went and some coops saying they never want to have anything to do with that individual
There are some missing links and I am certain that those links can be fixed fairly easily.
I have no idea what margins the coffee houses make but I know that prices of the raw produce are determined by the stock excahnge and that price goes to the exporter and not to the grower. At one point earlier this year (Jan) that price was 50p per KG, so wonder how much the grower got, if that is all the last person in the chain could expect
Here is a model that I am aware of http://www.malagasy.co.uk/ that provides a better alternative. I am speaking to them to see if this can be applied to the coops in Uganda.
I use the term “on the face it” precisely because I have not spoken to or met anyone from Cafedirect.
But happy to have this discussion with them and hear their point of views. I can’t pretend to be familiar with their set up and I am merely writing about what I saw and was told. The part of Bushenyi we visited is coffee growing and tea is in a nearby district.
We never got to visit Gumutindo during our visit to Mbale in Eastern Uganda, there was a mix up in the communication between our guide and the people at the coop.
I don’t disagree Robin and perhaps it was unfortunate that we didn’t get to see other examples. I am heading back in December and time permitting I will explore this a bit more. I am keen on sharing the good practice of some of the coops with those that maybe struggling. We found a very good one in central Uganda whose coffees are certified by UTZ.
The model that Cafedirect uses as I understood it from the Bushenyi growers is what the Bugisu growers in Eastern Uganda are aspiring too as they had it in place many moons ago and it all went pear shaped. It got so bad that the government had to bail them out
I met up with Neill last week whose idea this was originally. I understand that the idea was to find an existing cocoa producer and link them up with customers here (being supermarkets) who would be willing to carry a cocoa brand packaged in Africa and as far as I know that has worked but do not know how many people on the ground benefit from this. It is very small indeed in the scheme of things and required a willingness of an awful lot of people to share their expertise and know how to bring it about
Yes something like this does require an awful lot of money to set up the infrastructure on the ground. In terms of funding my guess would be that some of the funding from DFID could be put to this sort of activity, however in partnership with a private company to oversee the day to day running of it.
This could well be one of the markets for argument’s sake.
But that’s just it. If the certification etc is in place but things aren’t quite right still, joined up thinking/working between all the stakeholders could be the answer. There is an need to identify why things are not working inspite of all the money that has gone into Africa and my guess is that can only happen by bringing all the stakeholders together to agree common goals/outcomes.
Granted could be wishful thinking on my part but I honestly can’t see another way. Is money being spent in the wrong places for instance and is this the reason things haven’t moved on in any meaningful way. I sincerely don’t know and would welcome points of view on this.
All I know is that there must be a better way!
Hi Chris and welcome to the discussion. Indeed there is a whole debate going regarding the environment and poverty. We learned from our guide on the Uganda coffee trail (who is a coffee growere too) that he had been approached by some government officials and offered money to give up a section of his land for pine growing.
He was very confused by this since in his view if the land was used for pine trees he would be not be able to grow food on the same land whislt coffee can be interplanted with food crops like potatoes and bananas meaning that households can have food and cash crops..
Sustainability should indeed be at the top of the agenda
Hi Neill and welcome to discussion
IMHO some of the money that is given in AID should be dedicated to capacity building and prevent situations of “fire fighting”. There are insufficient developing world voices on the international marketing calling for change and that does not help.
Hi Andy and welcome to the discussion.
I am not sure exactly what you mean when you say “I have managed to download the pictures but what I have seen is shocking and completely wrong”
Is it that you believe such a facility does not exist?
During our visit to ACPU we were shown around by their Chairman who described the facility as a factory and store room, we expressed our concerns to him as to the conditions and he confirmed that it was rented.
Our guide Hassan Lutalo who works for Icona coffee a spanish company was shocked too that the facility was in this condition be it that it is rented. If anything he will varify anything that is presented in the photographs
I found ladies resting in the facility described as “disused” I didn’t take photos of them sicne I didn’t have their permission to do so and ironically the floor of that facility was very clean inspite of its appearance on the exterior.
May I also clarify my position on this. I am not out to discredit Cafedirect but merely giving an account of what I saw during my visit.
It may interest you to know that I am looking into ways to help and would be happy to share my experience on best practice free of charge.
That is the million dollar question!