Calling all chocolate fans and fighters for fairness! In 2020 Fairtrade Fortnight will be back and will continue in its mission to ensure that all farmers are paid fairly for their work and are able to earn a living income, starting with cocoa farmers in West Africa.

Fairtrade Fortnight will be back Monday 24^th February – Sunday 8^th March 2020. For two weeks each year thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks and who grow the cotton in our clothes, people who are often exploited and underpaid.

Today there are around 1.7 million farmers and workers in 73 countries who benefit from Fairtrade.
Fairtrade Foundation

The Fairtrade Foundation was established in 1992 with an aim to make trade fairer: to make sure the millions of smallholder farmers who produce our food get a fairer price for the work they do. To make sure they are not exploited, have better working conditions and earn a bit more – which is at least enough to put food on the table, give their children an education and shelter, and have the opportunity to access medical care – for many of those who produce the food we eat, this is still not the case.

£1.86 is the amount a cocoa farmer in West Africa needs to earn each day in order to achieve a living income. Currently, a typical cocoa farmer in Cote d’Ivoire lives on around 74p a day. Almost all cocoa farmers in West Africa live in poverty.

By having the Fairtrade mark on a product, the farmers get a fair price, as well as a premium – a mandatory amount above the cost of production, which the producers themselves decide how to spend. The premium is often invested in farm improvements, education and healthcare projects: everything from new machinery to ensure a greater yield, to building boreholes for running water, health centres and schools for the community.

One in three bananas sold in UK carries the Fairtrade mark.
Fairtrade Foundation

So why is all of this important to us in the UK? Well, did you know that 500 million smallholder farmers produce 70% of the world’s food? And yet, those farmers currently make up half of the world’s hungry people? Without these smallholder farmers we wouldn’t have many of the products we love, like chocolate, bananas, tea and coffee.

Get Involved

This Fairtrade Fortnight (24^th February – 8^th March), you can get your Company involved and help educate others about how Fairtrade helps these smallholder farmers, and the difference it makes to their lives. Your Company can help us to continue to make a difference through:

Choosing Fairtrade Chocolate
Perhaps one of the simplest ways to support cocoa farmers around the world, is by buying Fairtrade chocolate and cocoa. While this doesn’t immediately solve all the issues, keeping up the demand allows farmers to sell more of their cocoa on Fairtrade terms thus increasing their income. Encourage your young people and their families to buy Fairtrade by raising awareness.

Banana Challenges
What could you do? Consider what crazy games you could do with bananas . . . Create a giant banana split? (During Fairtrade Fortnight a few years ago, Fairtrade supporters in Ammansford, Carmarthenshire created a 30-metre long banana split!) or see how quickly you can peel and eat a banana without using your hands?

Fairtrade Tuck
Make your tuck shop / canteen Fairtrade, by only selling Fairtrade products. Check out which sweets carry the Fairtrade mark and don’t forget to ensure Fairtrade bananas get in there as well!

Fairtrade Bake-off
Why not challenge your BB members to a bake-off, using Fairtrade ingredients? Think about where your ingredients came from – is that what they looked like when they were grown?

Fundraise for Fairtrade
The Fairtrade Foundation is a charity and relies on donations to help us fulfil our mission. Why not organise a bake sale or raffle? Check out other great fundraising ideas, order a fundraising box and donate online at fairtrade.org.uk

Chocolate Taste Test
Get your group tasting different brands/types of chocolate. Can they guess which one’s which? Fairtrade chocolate might taste the same as non-Fairtrade chocolate, but it means the farmers get a fair price for their cocoa. Chocolate tasting is an art – encourage your group to follow chocolate tasting guidelines like a professional to see if they can guess the flavour.

Check out the Fairtrade Fortnight Activities Guide which includes recipes, quizzes, films and ideas for leading devotions/Church services at
fairtrade.org.uk/resources