Fairtrade

Fairtrade on the road

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On the Cocoa Trail in Ecuador

What better way for farmers to gain new knowledge and skills than from each other? Fairtrade field staff in Latin America have been encouraging this for the past few years now – through a producer exchange program. Carla Veldhuyzen, Regional Coordinator for the Andean region, reports on their latest exchange: taking cocoa farmers from all over the region to Ecuador - the home of speciality cocoa.

Almost 30 of us boarded the hired bus from Guayaquil on early Monday morning, some of them nervous at their first trip outside of their home country. Cocoa farmers from 20 producer organizations in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia were on board, as well as our partners from OIKOCREDIT who financed the trip. I was really pleased to see so many young people on the bus. There’s a new generation of technicians working on Fairtrade cocoa farms, which is very encouraging for the future.

While passing through cocoa plantations on our way to Machala, Enrique Cardenas (Fairtrade Liaison Officer for Ecuador) explained the origins of “nacional arriba”, the fine flavoured cocoa which Ecuador is so famous for.


According to a 19th century legend, a Swiss chocolatier perceived a strong smell of cocoa while navigating the Guayas River. He was so impressed by the fragrance that asked some workers unloading cocoa from their canoes where it came from. They responded, “de río arriba” which means “from up the river”. Since then, this variety of cocoa is worldwide known as “Arriba” and has become synonymous with high quality and fine aroma cocoa.

Ecuadorian Fairtrade producers have realised the importance of this reputation, are further improving the quality of their cocoa and accessing new markets as a result. Could the other farmers benefit from this knowledge too? I certainly hoped so, and was curious to see what the next few days of farm visits would bring!

Sarah Howe is a Pricing Project Manager in the Standards Unit at Fairtrade International.  In her role, she works to develop Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium proposals.  She is currently focusing on orange juice, cocoa, and coffee projects.   A big part of Fairtrade’s work is sitting down with producers to understand the challenges they face and the opportunities available. The SCAA in Portland Oregon gave us a great chance to meet with a number of Fairtrade coffee producers. Members of a recently-formed producer organization in Brazil – BRFair, Associação das Organizações de Produtores Fairtrade do Brasil – attended the SCAA in full force and we had a chance to spend time with them.  The meeting gave us an opportunity to see how we can collaborate with this newly-formed network of producers. Some of these producers are unique in the Fairtrade system, representing some of the only Fairtrade Robusta coffee producers in Latin America. Within the Fairtrade coffee sector, less than 10% of all producers grow Robusta coffee (check out the Fairtrade impact in coffee here). These coffee producers often face distinct challenges getting their coffee to market and finding buyers, and expressed special interest in a minimum price review for Robusta. Fairtrade International is planning the minimum price review and our Senior Adviser for Coffee and Tea met with the group to help this group and others find potential buyers while at the conference.

Sarah Howe is a Pricing Project Manager in the Standards Unit at Fairtrade International.  In her role, she works to develop Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium proposals.  She is currently focusing on orange juice, cocoa, and coffee projects.  

A big part of Fairtrade’s work is sitting down with producers to understand the challenges they face and the opportunities available. The SCAA in Portland Oregon gave us a great chance to meet with a number of Fairtrade coffee producers. Members of a recently-formed producer organization in Brazil – BRFair, Associação das Organizações de Produtores Fairtrade do Brasil – attended the SCAA in full force and we had a chance to spend time with them. 

The meeting gave us an opportunity to see how we can collaborate with this newly-formed network of producers. Some of these producers are unique in the Fairtrade system, representing some of the only Fairtrade Robusta coffee producers in Latin America. Within the Fairtrade coffee sector, less than 10% of all producers grow Robusta coffee (check out the Fairtrade impact in coffee here).

These coffee producers often face distinct challenges getting their coffee to market and finding buyers, and expressed special interest in a minimum price review for Robusta. Fairtrade International is planning the minimum price review and our Senior Adviser for Coffee and Tea met with the group to help this group and others find potential buyers while at the conference.

New Wine, New Hope For Lebanese Farmers

Visiting Lebanese wine cooperative les Coteaux d’Heliopolis, I’m struck by the beauty of the area. Small vineyards are dotted across the landscape, from the Bekaa valley up to the steep mountain side, where snow still lies on the tops, even though it’s 25 degrees in the valley. The high altitude, combined with the virgin, unpolluted soil, give the grapes their unique taste and aroma.

But it’s not just the quality of the wine that makes Heliopolis so special. It’s also the story of the farmers who produce it – and their determination to build a better future for the region through Fairtrade.

Georges Fakhry is one face of this story. Georges tried cultivating a number of different crops over the years. Like many farmers in the region that also included cannabis. But it’s only after switching to wine grapes that his fortunes started to change.

 “Finally, a crop that grows well here and can help us”, says Georges. “Wine doesn’t need much water, so it is perfect for here.  With cannabis there was no transparency, no visibility. That’s different with Fairtrade. We know exactly what is expected of us and what we can get out of it. Everything is clear.”

Demand for both the wine and the grapes is on the rise, so Georges is branching out into new varieties – like the Sauvignon blanc he showed us on our visit.

The cooperative is growing and now has 250 members. Currently, almost all of them nearly all the members are over 45 years old. Many young people have left the area. Even those who do stay may get caught up in the spiral of illicit crops, as many from the older generation have already experienced.

But through Fairtrade, the farmers want to show them that there is a future for this region – and it doesn’t have to be in cannabis.

Interested in stocking Coteaux d’Helipolis wine? Contact Chiraz Skhiri c.skhiri@fairtrade.net and Benoit Berger, b.berger@fairtradelebanon.org 

Vicky Pauschert from our Communications team and Regional Coordinator Chiraz Skhiri visited Lebanon for the country’s first Fairtrade Fortnight – bringing together Fairtrade Lebanese producers, and consumers. Read all our posts on the trip so far here.

There are 120 farmers who have lost their vocations, their very livelihoods. Our exports have been cut in half.

Pedro Quezada Valladolid, Managing Director of Fairtrade banana organization  Asociación de Bananeros Orgánicos Solidarios (BOS) in Peru. The farmers have  experienced the heaviest rainy season the region has seen in fourteen years.

Read about how they are slowly getting back on their feet on our website.

Livelihoods under threat in Palestine

fairtradeblog:

By Ann Davison, independent Fairtrade consultant

Ann Davison reports from Palestine where olive farmers are facing an order from the Israeli government to tear up their centuries old olive trees, and source of income.

Read More

We are proud to see our wine on sale here today, and soon it will be available in countries like the UK and Japan. Thanks to Fairtrade certification we can reach new markets and have a sustainable crop that brings new hope to our region.

Chehade Maalouf, member of Coteaux d’Heliopolis cooperative who recently became Fairtrade certified. Here he is pictured at the Fairtrade Brunch for World Fair Trade Day in Beirut (top photo, far left) and at his home village in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Chiraz Skhiri from our producer relations team (pictured, centre) supported Heliopolis through the certification process, in partnership with Fair Trade Lebanon. To find out more about our services to producers, click here.

More about our visit to Heliopolis coming soon!

An olive branch for peace & prosperity?

“Each one of these trees bears the scars of war,” explains Brahim Hadj as he shows us around his olive tree grove.


In this lush green landscape in Southern Lebanon, with blue skies overhead and nothing but the sound of birds, it’s hard to imagine that this was a war scene just six years ago.

But this region, close to both the Israeli and Syrian border, is no stranger to conflict and political tensions. In 2006 it was the main battleground during the Israeli-Lebanon conflict. Brahim’s olive trees have been hit by stray bullets, and rained on by overhead machine gun fire. Even the soil they stand in was once strewn with landmines.

Against such a backdrop it’s no wonder that people have left the area in droves, seeing no prospects there. Many of the farmers’ children live abroad.

But Brahim and the other farmers in Qleya village are determined to get the region back on its feet again, and see this olive oil venture as a way to achieve that. The land is fertile and perfect for cultivating olives.  The oil has a distinct, slightly spicy flavour. They hope that through sales of the oil, people will be attracted back to the area, to visit and to work.

By getting the cooperative Fairtrade certified, Fair Trade Lebanon hopes to find new buyers for Qleya’s olive oil. This strategy already worked for red wine– orders have come from the UK and Japan since Lebanese cooperative “Les Coteaux d’Heliopolis” got certified and started putting the international FAIRTRADE Mark on their products last year.

Ask Brahim what his hopes for his village are and the immediate answer is “salaam, salaam, salaam”. Peace. And his second big hope? That people come back to the region again.

While we may not be able to contribute much to the first, buying Qleya’s Fairtrade olive oil can certainly help them achieve the second.

If you are interested in stocking Qleya’s olive oil, or any other Lebanese Fairtrade products, contact Chiraz Skhiri c.skhiri@fairtrade.net and Benoit Berger, b.berger@fairtradelebanon.org 

Click here to read more about the partnership between Fairtrade International and Fair Trade Lebanon.

Con el comercio justo logré pagar mi finquita…a través de préstamos que nuestra cooperativa nos hizo…Nosotros trabajamos aquí en nuestra propia finca. Trabajar lo propio es más bueno, trabajar para uno, porque lo que uno hace es para el bienestar propio y de la familia. Ya alcanza para la comidita, la salud y para pagar el estudio de los hijos.

Héctor Ramírez es un pequeño productor en la Cooperativa de Caficultores de Aguadas en Colombia.

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