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 Fairtrade

Justice in a bar of chocolate?

I write this as Lent approaches so perhaps it’s not the best time to encourage you to indulge in a bar of Chocolate, as long, of course, as it’s Fair Trade chocolate.

Once again the Fairtrade Foundation has taken ‘Living Incomes’ as its theme for Fairtrade Fortnight (Monday 24 February - Sunday 8 March 2020). The particular focus again this year is on the (mainly women) cocoa farmers of West Africa.

£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.  For the women the situation is even worse. They may plant and harvest on the farm, look after children, carry water, collect wood, cook and clean for the family, and transport the cocoa beans to market but often with fewer rights than men. (Fairtrade Foundation Website)

Cocoa Farmers, like so many others round our world, are struggling to earn enough to meet their basic needs.  The message is clear, it is one we have heard over and over again. I remember a poster from years ago that read ‘Don’t buy my harvest cheap, then offer me charity’. Sadly that message is still needed.

Even if we find ourselves able to make a choice not based on price alone, shopping has become a challenging experience: plastic or not, locally produced or supporting farmers round the world, seasonal or exotic, healthy or indulgent. Whatever we choose to buy we cannot ignore the words of the prophet Micah (Ch6v8)  ‘And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’

Thank you for your continued support of farmers and producers all around our world.

Teresa Ely