Fairtrade news

Embracing new technologies

- Monday March 18th, 2013 – 08:10 AM

Management at Bee Manique Co-operative Credit Society, a sugar producer organisation in Mauritius, understands the importance of keeping up-to-date with technology. After a needs analysis, the group decided to invest its premium in the purchase of their very first iPad!
Not only does the iPad help producers in the daily management of the cooperative, many farmers’ [...]

Hillary Clinton honors Fairtrade tea farm!

- Monday March 18th, 2013 – 08:06 AM

In the final weeks of her term as US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton presented the 2012 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) to Sorwathe, a Fairtrade tea producer in Rwanda.
The ACE is an annual award recognising businesses that exhibit exemplary corporate citizenship, promote innovation, and advance democratic principles. Sorwathe, which won the price in the [...]

Fairtrade’s impact in facts & figures

- Monday March 18th, 2013 – 08:02 AM

Fairtrade producers across the globe received over 80 million USD in Fairtrade premiums in 2010-2011, an increase of 19%. The figure was published in Fairtrade International’s annual Monitoring & Evaluation report.
Among other findings, the report highlights the importance of small farmer organisations in the Fairtrade system. By the end of 2011, the total [...]

New head for Fairtrade Foundation

- Monday March 18th, 2013 – 07:59 AM

Michael Gidney is Fairtrade Foundation’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Michael has over 20 years of experience in international development with a focus on poverty eradication, proving him the best candidate to drive the advocacy for fairer trade. He has had the privilege of seeing the functioning of Fairtrade both as an executive while serving as [...]

SOPACDI victim of conflict in Eastern Congo

- Wednesday March 6th, 2013 – 07:46 AM

During the invasion of M23 rebels in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the end of 2012, members of SOPACDI, a Fairtrade coffee producer in the region, were not spared. The cooperative lost contact with 5 (out of 8 ) sectors for two weeks. After contact was restored, the cooperative was [...]

Ben & Jerry’s fortifies farmer focus

- Wednesday March 6th, 2013 – 07:29 AM

Yum! Ben & Jerry’s ice cream in the USA will soon be sporting the FAIRTRADE Mark, as it does in the rest of the world. A long-term partner, Ben & Jerry’s has reaffirmed its commitment to Fairtrade, continuing transitioning its products to include as many Fairtrade ingredients as possible.
‘We’re working hard to transition eligible ingredients [...]

Fairtrade Access Fund’s first results

- Wednesday March 6th, 2013 – 07:25 AM

The Fairtrade Access Fund provided its first loan to COPROCAEL in Honduras. The new fund, run by Fairtrade International, Incofin Investment Management and Grameen Foundation, is offering a range of loans and technical assistance to Fairtrade certified farmers’ organisations.
COPROCAEL received a trade finance loan of US$ 570,000 to purchase the coffee of its 170 member [...]

Did you know about the certification fund?

- Wednesday March 6th, 2013 – 07:22 AM

Small producer organisations in Ghana and Mauritius were among 131 cooperatives, who altogether received a grant of a quarter of a million USD to finance their certification fees last year.
The producer certification fund is applicable to small farmer organisations that are applying for or renewing [...]

Fairtrade funds peace play in Kenya

- Monday March 4th, 2013 – 07:29 AM

Fairtrade flower producer Tambuzi decided to inspire its workers and community towards peaceful elections in Kenya. The last time Kenyans casted their vote, back in 2007, the results divided the country and tribal conflicts led to the death of over 1,000 Kenyans with many more being displaced.
One day before the presidential elections at the beginning [...]

Fairtrade awarded grant to help tea producers fight climate change

- Thursday February 21st, 2013 – 08:26 AM

Fairtrade Africa successfully applied for a 670,000 USD grant from the Nordic Climate Fund. The funding will be used to train Fairtrade small-scale tea producers in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, on how to adapt to climate change. For the successful application of the ADAPTea project, Fairtrade Africa partnered with Vi Agroforestry, a Swedish organisation [...]