Comments for Small Farmers. Big Change.

Comment on Equal Exchange Bananas at the Merc! by Rodney North

Rodney North — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:12:26 +0000

Arun, I believe Fair Trade is active in more important sectors than you might think. For example, in dollar terms coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Over 15 billion pounds are produced every year on 40,000 square miles of land. It provides the main income for millions of families, and is the leading generator of foreign exchange for countries like Uganda, Rwanda & Ethiopia, and a major source for many others like Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia & Vietnam.

Fair Trade is also making serious in-roads with cacao (aka cocoa), which provides the livelihood for 2 million families and is the main source of foreign earnings for Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Similarly the trading volume for bananas (the fruit that is most likely to be fairly traded) is not small by any means. Four countries (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia & the Phillipines each export over 2 billion pounds per year. It is also one of the lead sources of foreign earnings for Ecuador. In terms of consumption it is, after the grain staples you listed, one of the most important staple crops world-wide.

The story for tea (another important Fair Trade item) is similar.

As for Fair Trade grains, there is some progress, namely companies like Ethiquable (France), Alter Mercato (Italy) & Alter-Eco (France & US) are already selling Fair Trade rice, though as a newer Fair Trade category the volumes are still small.

But the bigger issue is that not all crops offer the same market potential for Fair Trade. One character that helps is for the crop to be consumed in wealthy countries and predominantly grown in the global South. Consequently a market hurdle for grains is that many/most wealthy nations that have embraced Fair Trade are also major grain producers themselves. Further subsidies for domestic farmers (for ex, with corn/maize, sugar and cotton in the US) present one more obstacle to the successful import and marketing of these Fair Trade crops.

As for collaborations to add-value in the South: many of the organizations that are most dedicated to Fair Trade (Equal Exchange, La Siembra, Ethiquable, Alter Mercato etc) have indeed been looking for ways to move more of the work for processing or adding value to producer countries and/or transfer it to the farmer co-ops themselves. Sometimes the nature of the crop or the market create real limits to what’s poosible – but we are trying. For example the refining of our cocoa for our hot cocoa mix has recently been shifted from Holland to the CONACADO co-op in the Dominican Republic.

Comment on Equal Exchange Bananas at the Merc! by arun raste

arun raste — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:46:52 +0000

I am still perplexed by the thought that with the successsful history and experience of coffee, why cant the fair trade movement think big and get into commodities that are big. Getting into fruits where trading volume is small and may not affect many as also the value is limited e.g. pineapple , it is time that the movement starts looking at staples. Rice,wheat barley, maize are some of the largest crops both in terms of volume and value. And most of the farmers in the third world coutnries grow these. Ideally the cooperative and fair trade system should come together to consider value addition (be it packaging or branding) and upscaling (to give economies of scale) so that the small producers benefits so also customers.

Comment on About Our Campaign by Manju

Manju — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:37:30 +0000

Equal Exchange teas can be found on our webstore. If you visit http://www.equalexchange.coop and click on the “Shop” link in the top right, you will be able to purchase teas as well as other products from there. Also, we will be introducing a new tea line soon in hopes of supporting even more small-scale farmers. Hope this helps! Take care!

Comment on About Our Campaign by Ashesh Rai

Ashesh Rai — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:13:07 +0000

Please give me the address of outlet In US New York where i can get Sanjukta Vikas Tea Packet.

Thanks
Ashesh

Comment on It’s Dole vs. Bananas by Rose

Rose — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:13:48 +0000

I actually found out recently about the Dole and Nicaraguan workers and I feel as though our economical problems just keep on getting worse especially in the labor field.

Comment on Small Farmer Co-operatives: Saving Coffee–and the Earth by Eric

Eric — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:32:49 +0000

Thank you Nicholas! Your article is a case in point to the inspiring and dedicated work of everyone involved with Equal Exchange.

Comment on Small Farmers. Big Change: A David and Goliath story of small farmer perseverance, co-operative spirit and pride, and willingness to take risks by Mary Paquette

Mary Paquette — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:42:01 +0000

Awesome story about some courageous people. Thank you for sharing.

Comment on Tragedy during trip to Uganda by Hollie

Hollie — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:24:15 +0000

Thomas,
I imagine it’s hard to face some of the realities you come across in your travels, but I never doubt that your very existence in the places the world brings you enriches everyone.
Keep up the good work!
~~~~~~~ H

Comment on It’s Dole vs. Bananas by labocaloca

labocaloca — Wed, 12 May 2010 02:40:39 +0000

http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/nacionales/74115

Comment on Obama Installs Pesticide Lobbyist to Key Post by Liberty

Liberty — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:24:33 +0000

It’s a shame he did this with all the opposititon.