Providing an opportunity to raise awareness for Fairtrade, its products and those who support the initiative, Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual campaign that focuses on “choosing the world you want,” where women are respected, where the environment is taken care of and where everyone is treated fairly.
Hosted from 6 to the 19 of August by Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, this campaign gives coffee retailers and producers the chance to highlight the positive impact they are making and sustainability leadership through supporting Fairtrade.
By highlighting their Fairtrade certification, organisations and individuals can show their customers what their brand stands for.
Fairtrade has supplied a digital toolkit which provides information and content to be shared across social media and digital platforms.
One issue Fairtrade Fortnight addresses is climate change. Through buying Fairtrade products, individuals, societies and environments are better supported to combat the impacts of climate change.
Fairtrade works with its farmers to avoid the use of chemicals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect diversity. It also seeks to improve the quality of water and soil being used and provides programs that teaches farmers practical responses to climate change, such as crop diversification and carbon trading.
Fairtrade is 50 per cent own by coffee and cocoa producers who are suffering from climate change. Ebrottié Tanoh Florentin, a cocoa farmer in Côte d’Ivoire is just one of these farmers.
“Climate change is a global issue. We, the farmers, have to deal with its consequences every day. For instance, this year we lacked food because of the heat. The production decreased this year too, so this affects the economy,” says Florentin.
“People harvested less and received less money. So, we all suffer from the negative consequences of the climate: it impacts the environment and our economy.”
Florentin says that due to deforestation, rains have become irregular and seasons less divided. With the seasons merging into one, farmers struggle knowing when to plant crops and when to stop.
“Climate change has an impact on crops which results in less money and food available. There is also a lack of workforce, because the cocoa farming is not profitable anymore,” Florentin says.
“Young people who used to work with us do not come anymore. The farmer is left with his family, struggling to keep the production because of the negative effects of climate. These are the difficulties we currently face.”
Fairtrade Fortnight promotes a world where the environment is cared for by this generation and all those that follow. Through providing Fairtrade famers with greater market access, their products can be bought at decent prices, helping to empower women and farming communities, and improve product quality.
Fairtrade also pays a Fairtrade Minimum Price to its farmers which covers the price of sustainable production, or is raised when the market price is higher. The organisation also offers a Fairtrade Premium which is an extra sum of money given to the communal cooperative fund. This money is used to improve the communities social, economic and environmental conditions, strengthening the community.
By buying Fairtrade products and promoting Fairtrade Fortnight, individuals can support farmers undergoing climate crisis and the programs which help them combat climate change and uphold sustainable farming practices.
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