Ghanaian Reminiscence 3

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to Accra's hottest nightclub Citizen Kofi of course. A great capture of the rural luxury one experiences in Accra - what an incredible city. 

 

All the world's a mall. The side of the road en route to Accra.

 

Part of the sleeping series - this child was taking an afteroon nap in some shade from the Ghanaian sun, quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

Some interesting facts on Fairtrade beauty

It's easy to understand Fairtrade in the context of what we eat, drink and even what we wear. But what about fairly traded beauty products?

Here are some interesting facts about Fairtrade and the beauty industry.

• When it comes to beauty products the FAIRTRADE Mark guarantees a better deal for the farmers producing the Fairtrade ingredients.
• All beauty product companies wishing to certify a product with the FAIRTRADE Mark must also have a producer partnership plan outlining how they additionally seek to support the producers of the ingredients they are buying.
• Lots of ingredients in beauty products can already be sourced from Fairtrade certified producers. These include vegetable oils such as cocoa butter, shea nut butter, brazil nut oil and olive oil, as well as sugar, honey and vanilla.
• Currently there are over 50 beauty products on the market which contain Fairtrade certified ingredients. These include body butters, lip balms, shower gels, face masks and body scrubs. The range of products is growing all the time and the details of all the products and the companies that sell them can be found here.

Fairtrade Wine in South Africa

Stellar Organic Winery, the largest producer of organic wines in South Africa, is privately owned by the Rossouw brothers and the Stellar workers, who own 26% shares in the cellar and 50% in Stellar Agri - a table and wine grape farming operation.

In 2003, Stellar became Fairtrade certified, greatly improving the workers' quality of life. The Fairtrade premium has funded free housing, electricity and water for permanent farm workers and a trained health care committee for workers. All schooling and childcare facilities are subsidised by Stellar Winery and workers are encouraged to pursue further education. Courses range from personal hygiene to winemaking. Other projects include an organic vegetable garden, where the vegetables grown can be sold at the local market to fund tertiary education for workers’ children.

"The people who work for Stellar are its greatest asset. Their enthusiasm, drive and sheer hard work have ensured that our dream of building a successful, sustainable organic farming and winery operation has been realised. The workers now play a role in decision making, where they participate in smaller groups where they can work for fair solutions. Projects funded by the premium include a commercial organic vegetable garden and fencing for the workers’ houses. We are also planning to build a new community centre." - Maria Malan, the farm manager.

Fairtrade Flowers in Kenya

Fairtrade flowers have been available for purchase in the UK since 2004, but few of us know anything about this huge and growing industry and the workers behind the scenes.

So let's have a look at Kenya, now the world's fifth largest flower exporter in the world. There are an estimated 5,000 flower farms in Kenya. With more than half of Kenya’s population of 37 million living in poverty, it's quite obvious to see the impact of this industry on the economy and culture of the country. The cut flower industry plays an important role in providing employment and alleviating poverty. Around 55,000 people, mainly young women, are directly employed in the industry, while 2 million people indirectly depend on the flower industry for their livelihoods.

With an annual growth rate of 20%, the cut flower industry is among the fastest growing sectors of the Kenyan economy and, with revenues of more than $250m a year, it is Kenya’s second largest agricultural foreign exchange earner after tea.

So what difference does Fairtrade certification make?

Fairtrade certification provides an independent verification that the workers on these large-scale flower farms have decent wages and working conditions in line with the core International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions. This includes the right to join a trade union, the right to negotiate collectively with the employer on terms and conditions of employment, freedom from discrimination, no child labour, and a safe and healthy working environment.

For examples of the difference the certification has made, how it relates to environmental sustainability and some great stories of the impact it's made, visit the Fairtrade website over here.

More brilliant bicylce stories from our friends in Ghana

I'd like to introduce you to Emmanual Aboagye. He is one of the Facilitators for the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership.

Emmanual shared this awesome story with us:

Fifteen-year old Mary Adzoyi from Atta-ne-Atta is so happy to be arriving in school early these days. Her isolated home pretty isolated and her school is 3.5 km away. On her bicylce the journey takes 15 minutes, which is nothing compared to the hour and twenty minutes it used to take her to walk there.

But it's not just Mary's life that's totally changed, her younger sister Doris, 12,  gets a lift to her school on the bicycle. 

“I’m so happy to be one of those who received a bicycle from World Vision Ghana. They told us this big offer is from Cadbury Ghana for schoolchildren,” Mary shared.  “The bicycle is saving me some time and energy. I’m no more arriving in school tired and late and I can concentrate the more in class.” Mary salso told us she's delighted to finally take part in morning assemvly and earlier classes of the school day.

Mary’s comfort for schooling these days is equally enjoyed by several other schoolchildren- an impact that is visibly seen and spoken about by all within the Mpohor Wassa East District.

In November 2009, the Mpohor Wassa East ADP of World Vision Ghana took delivery of 1,285 bicycles from Cadbury to be distributed to children from Cocoa farming communities to facilitate their schooling.

The whole Adjoyi family is delighted about the relief the bicylc ehas brought their children. Their mum, Elizabeth, says she and her husband, Kofi, have been into cocoa farming for more than twenty years but this package was remarkable in addressing a direct need of their children. She believes that the improvement in school time would help Mary realize her dream one day of becoming a nurse.

Please visit this post to find out more about Cadbury Canada's Bicylce Factory campaign. Big thanks to Emmanual and Joseph Birikadde for bringing us this story.

What's so Special about Fairtrade Cotton?

Cotton is vital to the global textile industry and the development of the countries who grow it. Fairtrade cotton is the same quality as regular cotton, that's not where the difference lies.

The difference is that hte person at the very bottom of the textile supply chain who has grown the cotton has been paid a fair price for his crop. 

This has massive impact. It's estimated that100 million rural households are involved in the production of cotton in 70 countries around the world. Two-thirds of this cotton is produced in the developing world. For most cotton farmers in cotton-producing communities it is their only means of income and their only cash crop.

Many cotton farmers live in poverty – trying to survive on less than $2 a day. And because cotton prices have been unstable for so long, things for them are getting harder – not easier. Cotton farmers are under pressure from rising input costs of fuel, pesticides and insecticides. This means that few farmers can cover the cost of production, because they cannot pass these costs on when cotton is sold at such a low price.
 
Fairtrade provides a lifeline to farmers ensuring that they are paid a guaranteed minimum price for their cotton crop which has been calculated to cover the sustainable costs of production. They also receive additional money to invest in community projects –the Fairtrade premium - and it is for the farmer organisations to decide how they invest it, depending on what they need most - a school, health centre, equipment or a well.