This Fairtrade Fortnight, let’s collaborate to empower farmers

“We are having to move up the mountain to reach cooler climates,” coffee farmer Jenipher Sambazi told me this week. “Within 10 years there will be nowhere to farm.”

Jenipher’s Fairtrade coffee co-operative can be found high up in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda. In the UK, during Fairtrade Fortnight, I was concerned to hear Jenipher describe the impact climate change is already having on coffee farms in her co-operative.

But she also explained how, by selling their coffee on Fairtrade terms, her community in Uganda benefits and is able to adapt to climate change and farm more sustainably.

Named after their inspiring co-operative owner, Jenipher’s Coffi is just one of many Fairtrade brands and retailers getting involved in this special Fairtrade Fortnight, as we mark 30 years of Fairtrade products on UK shelves.

In our new campaign, we are calling on everyone to ‘Be the Change’. Millions of people are already doing their bit by choosing from the range of around 5,000 Fairtrade products – with an amazing seven in 10 UK adults buying a Fairtrade product last year.

But a fairer, more sustainable food system also relies on the continued support of committed and valuable partners who share our ambition.

Fairtrade’s vision has always been that an approach to trade based on robust minimum standards – economic, environmental and social – would not only benefit producers, but also help UK companies trade sustainably, manage supply chain risks and create a race to the top, not the bottom. Collaboration remains key to achieving this vision.

Many of the companies celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight with us this year are doing just that: calling on their customers and other responsible businesses to join the movement. For example, Brewgooder, Clipper and Co-op have rallied together to call for more retailers and brands to source Fairtrade.

Businesses across the sector are taking part, including the likes of Aldi, Asda, Ben & Jerry’s, Cafédirect, Clipper, Co-op (which has also launched an above-the-line campaign, bold new packaging, games and quizzes on its members’ app, ands in-store discounts), Green & Black’s, Greggs, Guylian, Lidl, M&S, Maltesers, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tony’s Chocolonely and Waitrose, many of which are marking their own impressive Fairtrade anniversaries this year.

We are also calling on all retailers and brands to work together to shift entire markets, and ensure farmers can adapt to climate change and farm sustainably. We have an innovative agenda focused on pre-competitive collaboration called Shared Impact, which will see retailers working together in supply chains, delivering more impact for producers and better risk mitigation for business.

As Jenipher and many other farmers overseas have told me, it is becoming harder than ever to grow the food we all love. In particular, coffee and cocoa farmers have had a difficult year, with extreme weather leading to reduced yields and the spread of diseases.

This matter is pressing because the UK imports almost half its food, and products like coffee, cocoa and bananas simply can’t be grown in our climate.

As our research revealed, four in every five adults are concerned about the effect of climate change on the price of food in the UK.

Fortunately, Fairtrade farmers have better in-built resilience through the Fairtrade minimum price, additional premium payments and its standards.

“The Fairtrade premium really helps the communities,” explained Jenipher. “We are growing seedlings and using agroforestry techniques. We plant larger trees to protect the coffee trees, for example from hailstones, and the shade protects them from being burnt from extreme sunlight.”

We believe the immediate and long-term rewards of collaborating for fairer trade are clear. We are calling on businesses to ‘Be the Change’ so that more farmers and workers can earn fair prices, and tackle the climate and economic challenges of the future.