In my last post I wrote about my visit to Honduras where I met independent smallholders preparing to join Fair Trade. One of the farmers, Faustino, told me how preparing for Fair Trade helped him and his community to save water and reduce pollution, while improving the quality of coffee. As Faustino mentions in the …
Monthly Archives: February 2013
“Things are changing” – Farmers in Honduras prepare for Fair Trade
Last week, I visited smallholder coffee farmers in the Department of Copan in Honduras, one of the most beautiful regions in the country. We are working with more than 100 farmers in Copan who want to join Fair Trade but who are not part of a cooperative or other farmer organization who could get Fair …
Farm workers in Nicaragua prepare for Fair Trade
Last week I visited a farm in Nicaragua participating in our coffee pilots to bring the benefits of Fair Trade to coffee pickers and other farm workers. As part of the new standards we are testing in this pilot, the farm workers have democratically elected a Fair Trade committee. The committee in this farm includes …
Leonardo says hi from Nicaragua’s coffee fields
Last week I visited a farm in Nicaragua participating in one of our pilots. One of the workers, Leonardo, is studying English on Saturdays Sundays when he doesn’t have to work . He is saving everything he can to pay for classes, and is seeking new opportunities in his life and to meet people from other countries. I visited him in the coffee field when he and other workers were ‘weeding’ with machetes. I greeted Leonardo in English, and he quickly responded back. I asked him if he would send a message to the people in our office in English and this is what he said:
Leonardo is part of the Fair Trade committee in this farm. They are just beginning to work in Fair Trade here and the workers are looking forward to seeing how they can use Fair Trade to improve things (working conditions, their communities) in the future.
