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As we approach Fairtrade Fortnight, 26th February - 11th March, Peter Collins reminds us why fair trade is important This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight theme is Change today – choose Fairtrade. It’s a clarion call to those UK consumers who have yet to give their support to a movement which is helping to revolutionise the way we shop – and the way big business behaves.
But it’s also a reminder to committed supporters that in making the UK the world’s largest fair trade market, they are changing the ‘todays’ of millions of producers across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
And that’s a message with particular force for the church congregations who provide the bedrock of support which has enabled fair trade to grow far beyond its jute and terracotta origins.
in the beginning
‘Without the churches there wouldn’t be a fair trade movement, or not one as large as we see now,’ says Peter Collins, who heads Traidcraft’s church relations. ‘The fact that fair trade is now so conspicuous in mainstream retailing is due, largely, to the years of loyal support and patient – and persistent – campaigning by the church groups and individual Christians who saw the obvious connection between the Gospel call to seek justice for the poor, and the practical response which fair trade offers.
‘It was the Tearcraft and Traidcraft supporters in the churches who were the first to join the Christian Aid, CAFOD and Oxfam campaigns to persuade stores and supermarkets to start stocking fair trade goods.
‘Their championing of fair trade made, and continues to make, a huge difference to the lives of millions of people who are able to build better lives for themselves, their families and their communities as a result.’ Traidcraft was started by a group of Christians who had been students together at Durham University, and, although it works with people of all faiths and those with none, its Christian origins still shape its principles and its practice.
‘Around 80% of our Fair Traders – the activists who sell our products – describe themselves as regular churchgoers, so the church constituency remains absolutely crucial to our success and to the growth of fair trade.’
core support
And it is to those core supporters that Traidcraft and other dedicated fair trade organizations are now looking to sustain the producer development and support that has made the rapid expansion into the mainstream possible. Supermarkets can only buy from producers or organizations which have the capacity to supply them and it is a tribute to the work of organizations like Traidcraft, Cafedirect, Equal Exchange, Twin Trading and the rest, that so many producers are now benefiting from mainstream sales.
But there are millions more who are not yet at that level or who lack the necessary market access. Getting them to the point where they too can reap the benefits of the expanding market for ethically sourced goods will require years of work on the part of the fair trade organizations.
‘At Traidcraft we have always given priority to that nurturing and developing role but, to be blunt about it, we need people to keep on buying our products and donating to our charity to make it possible,’ says Peter.
‘So while we actively support the mainstreaming of fair trade, we are just as actively asking our customers to give preference to our products whether that’s in the supermarket or on the stall in their church.’
simple cup of tea
Traidcraft’s approach is typified by a commodity which contributes significantly to its turnover and which is almost universal in its appeal – tea. Tea is one of those things we all take for granted. After all, what could be nicer – or easier to make – than a simple cup of tea?
Yet for small-holder tea growers and estate workers across Africa and Asia, tea is proving the key to a better life and a more hopeful future for them and their communities.
Which is why tea is a major feature for the next five years for both the Traidcraft trading company and its associated charity, Traidcraft Exchange.
Traidcraft Exchange has been working in the Indian tea industry for several years to address the crisis which has seen falling tea prices and estate closures. Small tea growers and tea workers have lost income, increased their debt, and face an uncertain future.
The Just Tea project is helping more than 230,000 smallholder tea growers to realise fairer terms of trade through an assessment of opportunities in the domestic market, business development support and advocacy aimed at improving legislation in the industry. Meanwhile, Traidcraft plc, working with Teadirect, is increasing market opportunities and improving livelihoods for growers and workers in Tanzania, Uganda. Kenya, Sri Lanka and India, through its tea purchases. ‘We have scores of stories of lives changed for the better, of hopes realized, of better futures in prospect, thanks to fair trade,’ says Peter.
‘If we are to take our Christian calling seriously, supporting fair trade is not optional: it’s essential.
‘With your help fair trade tea can change not just today but a lot more tomorrows as well. I can’t think of a better reason to go and put the kettle on – can you?’
facts and figures:
Peter Collins is the Church Relations Manager at Traidcraft
Traidcraft tea – Siji’s story Pictured : Siji with her five-year-old son, Abin, in the tea field. Photo: Shailan Parker
Siji Jose wants to provide a good future for her three children – that’s why she takes great care over the tea she grows on her small farm in Kerala, India. Selling her tea through the Sahyadri Farmers Consortium – Traidcraft’s newest tea supplier – helps her to get a good price, which means she can send her children to school and put food on the family table.
Like women all over the world, Siji is an expert at multi-tasking! Having her fields close to her home helps her to fit farming, household work and looking after her family into her working day. But she also plays an important role in helping other women farmers to have a voice – and making sure that the Fairtrade premium is well-spent.
Siji is unit secretary of the Women’s Development Wing, which meets regularly and gives women tea farmers an opportunity to exchange knowledge and express their views. They also administer the Fairtrade premium in their area.
‘Being fair trade means that we have got a small development fund for our unit,’ Siji said, ‘and with that we are making use of some organic processes that will promote our cultivation.’
On Sundays, Siji and her family attend St Sebastian’s RC Church, where many of her neighbouring tea farmers also worship. ‘My church life is important to me,’ she said. ‘I am a Sunday School teacher.’
News that Traidcraft’s new blend of Indian Ocean tea includes tea from Sahyadri has been welcomed by Siji.
‘You can take our tea without hesitation. It is very nicely blended,’ she said. ‘I am proud that people are enjoying our tea.’
The classroom connection Pictured: head teacher Richard Angetile (centre, back) with teachers and local children. They are sitting on materials being used to build the classrooms in October 2006. Photo: Richard Else, Durham Media AcademyEver wanted to make a difference to the lives of children in Africa? Well, if you pour yourself a cup of fairly traded tea, you’ll be helping people like Tanzanian teacher Richard Angetile to provide a better education for his 650 pupils. Richard is head teacher at Itulahumba Primary School, just a few miles from Kibena Tea Factory, which provides tea sold by Traidcraft. The fair trade premium helps to provide community benefits in the surrounding area – including two new classrooms at Richard’s school.
The classrooms and two teachers’ offices, which were completed at the end of 2006, were much-needed additions to the school. And building them was a real community effort. While the premium paid for most of the materials, teachers, parents and other local residents provided the labour to build them.
‘We are very pleased with the new classrooms,’ Richard said. ‘It is making a lot of difference, because without the assistance of the money from fair trade we would not have such buildings. Toilets are also being built with the money from fair trade and we have got 20 chairs.
‘We are contributing our physical labour. We are very thankful for the assistance.’
Just a few miles away, the fair trade premium is helping Lihogosa Primary School to put its motto – education is the key for development – into action. The school for 750 children was built using the fair trade premium, which also paid for six of the seven teachers’ houses.
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