Tools to communicate
How do Fairtrade certified organisations communicate to their farmers and buyers? Which tools are used to provide organisational updates, Fairtrade news, agricultural information…?
Case study 1 – The newsletter
Profile:
Rungwe Smallholder Tea Growers Association (RSTGA)
Product focus: Tea
Location: Tukuyu, Tanzania
Type: Small scale producer – 15,000 farmers
Fairtrade certified since: 2001
Contact: Juma Liganja – juma.rstga@yahoo.com
Challenge:
With 15,000 members spread over 118 villages it is hard to stay in touch with each individual of RSTGA. Some farmers can be reached via text messages by mobile phone, but this is not always the case.
Solution:
Five years ago, Juma Liganja, Accounts Manager at RSTGA, started with a newsletter to update the community on current issues. The newsletter is a straightforward one pager, which is sent out on a monthly base. It is written by Juma, with input from members of the Executive Committee – who also proofread the document. Stories which were featured in the last issues included the announcement of the type of fertilizer the organisation is using this year, the price of Green Leaf tea, changes in the payment system etc. Also Fairtrade news is announced via this tool, e.g. when an auditor is expected to visit the villages, farmers are notified. Due to its effectiveness, RSTGA is planning to expand the scope of the newsletter, including more social topics like tips on how to adapt to climate change or healthcare issues like AIDS or malaria. Of every issue 118 copies are printed – for each village one. The STWGA villages are grouped per ten. When the latest newsletter is out, a representative per village group picks up 10 copies with his motorbike. The newsletters are then hung in the village office, where farmers come to collect their money.
Cost:
With 50 USD per issue, the cost of the newsletter is low. Most costly is the printing process, which is paid with the farmers’ fee – each RSTGA member pays the organisation 3 TZ (or 0,002 USD) per kilo tea sold.
Result:
The newsletter today is RSTGA’s main tool to communicate to all its members and has so far been effective. Juma agrees not every farmer enjoys reading the letter and the organisation is now looking into setting up a local radio station. But the plans are still in a preliminary phase and until then the newsletter will remain playing a crucial role in the communication between management and tea farmers.
Case study 2 – The radio programme
Profile:
US-GPC Saraya
Product focus: Cotton
Location: Saraya, Senegal
Type: Small scale producer – 1,200 farmers
Fairtrade certified since: 2009
Contact: Mady Kourou Danfakha – nang.niang@sodefitex.sn (French) / Veronique Verlinden –v.verlinden@fairtradeafrica.net (English)
Challenge:
Radio is by far the only meaningful mass medium in Africa. As the road network is still overall poor, transport remains expensive, influencing the cost of other communication tools like newspapers. Moreover, radio is closely linked to the continent’s oral tradition. But how can a cooperative like US-GPC Saraya, located in the remote South-East of Senegal, make use of radio as a means to communicate to its members?
Solution:
The goal of the radio project was to update and educate members of US-GPC Saraya on agricultural, health and cultural issues. As a first step, the cooperative approached the management of a popular, local radio station with the proposition to buy airtime. The station broadcasts to the entire Saraya district so outreach to all the cooperative’s 
members was guaranteed. Initially, the station manager was reluctant to accept the proposal, but after US-GPC Saraya’ General Manager Mady Kourou Danfakhae further explained the aim of the programme, the management agreed to allocate the cooperative with a one-hour slot twice per week. Mady Kourou Danfakha – who is also the programme’s presenter – broadcasts all types of information relevant to his members: updates on Fairtrade, best practical practices, health alerts, weather reports… Recently, Kourou devoted a radio item to his participation in the Fairtrade cotton Standards and Prices workshop in Mali; another time an informative session was broadcasted on how to correctly use malaria nets (the district of Saraya has one of the highest malaria prevalence rates in Senegal). To keep his audience engaged, Kourou uses different formats to package the information – plays, Q&As, phone-inswhereby listeners can air their comments live… Interactivity is a key component of the success of the programme.
Cost:
US-GPC Saraya agreed to pay the radio station 150,000 CFA (or 325 USD) to rent one hour of airtime twice per week. The organisation used its Fairtrade Premium to cover this cost. As the station is located some distance from the coop’s headquarters, Kourou also spends 20,000 CFA (or 43 USD) on fuel weekly.
Result:
The popularity of the programme is very high and it is by far the best tool to reach a high percentage of US-GPC Saraya’s members. According to Kourou, the programme helps unite the members of the coop. Moreover, its outreach surpasses the borders of the cooperative. The radio station, which broadcasts in the whole district, has a potential to reach the estimated 42,000 Senegalese who live in Saraya. Not only are they educated on the impact of Fairtrade, they also benefit from the health and agricultural tips given by DJ Kourou from his radio studio.
Case study 3 – Blogging
Profile:
Satemwa Tea Estates
Product focus: Tea
Location: Thyolo, Malawi
Type: Hired labour
Fairtrade certified since: 2007
Contact: Veronique Verlinden – V.verlinden@fairtradeafrica.net
Challenge:
How do you communicate to consumers, buyers and other partners what impact Fairtrade is having on farmers when you live in a remote area in Southern Africa? Satemwa Tea Estates struggled with this question when they first saw the impact Fairtrade can have on the livelihoods of African farmers. What is the best tool to use to reach stakeholders who are mostly based in the north?
Solution:
Internet. Although internet connections are not everywhere as reliable across Africa, many regions do have good access. In addition to its website (www.satemwa.com), Satemwa opted to set up a blog to communicate about its Fairtrade premium projects. Blogs can be seen as personal journals and are therefore an excellent tool to communicate about the impact of Fairtrade on farmers. 
Satemwa first started its blog www.workerscomittee.blogspot.com back in 2008 and continuous to upload stories. That is the tricky part – blogs get out of date quickly and the only way they will work is when new stories are posted on a regular base. Someone from the organisation should own the blog although several people can contribute. Satemwa understood this and has been successful in keeping the momentum going. Stories which were addressed in the past months included a project on a solar driven pump, support of community policing activities to increase security and a housing project for teachers – all accomplished with premium money. The advantage of a blog is that it is more interactive than normal websites as viewers can participate by leaving comments or add links to other relevant pages. Photos and even videos can be added relatively easily (depending on the size). Satemwa also ensured that visitors can subscribe to the feed, so they will be notified when a new blog post is uploaded. Blogs are very straightforward to set up. There are different hosts like wordpress.com or – like Satemwa – blogger.com. Each platform explains in easy steps how you can set up your own blog – but do contact Veronique at Fairtrade Africa if you require any help (v.verlinden@fairtradeafrica.net).
Cost:
The best part of using a blog as a tool to communicate is that it is free. You just need to invest time and effort.
Results:
Satemwa has not followed up on the impact of the blog but there are easy ways of calculating. You can for example check how many people visit the blog and from which countries they come. You can track which blog posts are the most popular and what type of stories work best. Fairtrade can help you promote your blog with traders, licensees and consumers to increase the impact of the blog as Labeling Initiatives are constantly looking for stories from producers – preferably written by the producers themselves.