06
On the farm
‘The growers we’re
dealing with are mostly
subsistence farmers
and what they care
about is having a
secure market for their
product; Fairtrade
ensures this with its
guaranteed minimum
price’ — Luis Armando
Choco, Toledo Cocoa
Nimrod Wambette of Gumutindo
Coffee Company, Uganda
Growers’ Association
Sorcha Corcoran talks to local people in Belize,
Tanzania and the Windward Islands about the
difference Fairtrade is making in their countries
IN the English-speaking Central American and renovated farms, planting some made); cut flowers; sugar cane; tobacco; Farmers’ Association (WINFA). Before the
country of Belize, about 20,000 indigenous 500,000 trees in the process. and cotton. Tea is grown in the Mbeya, disaster, WINFA farmers were exporting
Maya people — out of a total population of “Toledo is one of the poorest areas in Iringa, Tanga and Kagera regions. Its pro- 80,000 boxes of bananas a week to Britain
less than 300,000 — depend on cocoa for Belize and, in the past five years, Fairtrade duction is labour intensive and offers and Ireland, 90pc of which were Fairtrade.
their livelihood. The commodity con- has made a significant difference to the employment to many rural dwellers — Banana farming is labour intensive and
tributes US$500,000 in annual sales to the people there,” says Choco. “The growers young people and women in particular — physically demanding. WINFA continually
economy and this should increase by at we’re dealing with are mostly subsistence as both farms and processing plants looks for ways to help farmers improve
least 300pc in the coming years, according farmers and what they care about is hav- are located in rural areas. Most tea their practices. “One of the things we’re
to Luis Armando Choco of the Toledo ing a secure market for their product; pickers work for large commercial farms. doing now is placing an emphasis on qual-
Cocoa Growers’ Association (TCGA). Fairtrade ensures this with its guaranteed On average, about 20,000 people are ity and improving productivity. We have
“Cocoa represents a small portion of minimum price. The Fairtrade social pre- employed on a permanent basis while initiated a programme encouraging farm-
total gross domestic product as bananas, mium has provided financial resources around 30,000 work seasonally. ers to use buffer zones to prevent pesticides
citrus fruits and sugar are more predomi- for the rehabilitation of abandoned farms “The tea sector faces a variety of prob- and fertilisers from banana trees washing
nant, but it is becoming big. There has and orchard maintenance; it has also lems such as unreliable weather, high into rivers and streams,” says Rose.
been recent investment in planting, and offered loans and transportation to help marketing and production costs and inad- In an effort to diversify, WINFA set up an
farmers are establishing new acres people attend meetings since most com- equate infrastructure,” says Msangi. agro-processing plant for fruit juices, jams
dedicated to cocoa.” munities are remote. Farmers themselves However, Fairtrade is making a big differ- and jellies for the local market in 2007. This
In the early Nineties, the price of cocoa make proposals about how they want the ence. “One can confidently say the premi- plant, funded by Fairtrade Mark Ireland,
collapsed and the Toledo farmers lost premium spent — this year there are ums (the extra payments that are part of employs about 10 people and processes
their markets. However, their fortunes three scholarships available for indige- the Fairtrade system) go a long way in fruits such as golden apples, grapefruit and
turned around when chocolate company nous Maya to attend secondary school.” promoting improved working conditions, passion fruit. Rose says it hopes to start
Green & Black’s agreed to buy Fairtrade- In Herkulu in Tanzania, Fairtrade premi- ensuring company profits and protecting exporting next year.
certified cocoa from the growers in 1994. ums have been used to improve housing, the environment,” says Msangi. Some projects, made possible thanks to
“Since 2003, Green & Black’s, together education and health services, says Yahya On the Windward Islands of Saint Lucia, the Fairtrade social premium, are ongoing
with overseas aid organisations, has been Msangi of the Tanzania Plantation and Grenada, Dominica and Saint Vincent, the on the islands, mainly in the areas of health
instrumental in assisting cocoa farmers Agricultural Workers’ Union. “Some fami- Fairtrade movement is helping banana and education. For example, in 2007, a pre-
in Toledo through the Maya Gold Project. lies have been given sewing machines farmers get back on their feet after their school was provided to rural communities
This is geared towards making the TCGA a while a shop selling essential commodities crop was almost completely devastated on Saint Lucia; medical equipment was
sustainable organisation, providing tech- to workers and families has also been by a hurricane last year. supplied on Dominica and Saint Lucia; and
nical training to farmers and increasing established. In Kebena, the company is “Most of the [3,000] banana farmers on the Salvation Army was given money to
acreage for expansion,” Choco explains. offering higher wages in comparison with the islands have not been able to export build a house for homeless young people
Green & Black’s has committed to buy- other farms, a nursery school has been built since the hurricane. However, they have on Saint Vincent.
ing at least 200 tonnes of Fairtrade cocoa and workers have received bicycle loans.” replanted the fields and the fruit is matur-
per year for its Maya Gold bars. In the first The Tanzanian economy depends on ing. There is a minimum amount of exports Luis Armando Choco from Belize, Yahya
year of the Maya Gold Project, TCGA mem- agriculture, which employs about 84pc of right now, but later this year things should Msangi from Tanzania and Nimrod
bership grew from 170 to 750 farmers; the population. The country produces: be back to normal,” explains Renwick Rose, Wambette from Uganda will be visiting
many disillusioned producers returned tea; coffee; sisal (from which rope is co-ordinator of the Windward Islands Fairtrade Towns during Fairtrade Fortnight.
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