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Fairtrade

‘Fairtrade has been the saviour of farmers in Dominica – of agriculture and the whole economy. Since we started selling Fairtrade to Tesco, we have moved on by leaps and bounds.’ Amos Wiltshire, National Fairtrade Co-ordinator for Dominica.

Tesco strongly supports Fairtrade, which guarantees that developing world farmers are paid a price that covers the cost of production, plus a premium to be spent on community projects such as better healthcare, sanitation, education or housing. This is vital in bringing stability to many small suppliers in developing countries.

We stock over 90 Fairtrade lines, of which 14 lines are own-brand, including roses, mangoes, avocados, citrus fruits and cookies. This year we have achieved a 60% increase in Fairtrade sales. Our customers now buy 1 in 3 Fairtrade products sold in UK supermarkets. We supported the Fairtrade Fortnight in March 2005 by raising customer awareness through in-store promotions and by inviting local Fairtrade groups to hold food tastings and talk to customers about Fairtrade in our stores.

Tesco has worked with the Fairtrade Foundation over the last three years to secure the supply of Fairtrade bananas from the Commonwealth of Dominica. As a result, the smallest producers in three communities are able to supply the UK market. Fairtrade has helped fund the following projects:

• constructing, furnishing and equipping a pre-school building so children no longer have to walk four miles to school;
• construction of a community centre and a bus shelter, and installation of streetlights;
• renovation of 12 farm access roads with labour supplied by the farmers;
• renovation of a former banana distribution centre to accommodate the Dominica Fairtrade Group meetings;
• purchase of weed trimmers to replace the use of chemical herbicides, and mist blowers to control leaf spot disease of banana plants;
• upgrading of packing sheds, building charcoal pits for the safe disposal of fungicides and the provision of hand washing facilities in the field.

Marius Ismael, Fairtrade banana farmer, Dominica.
Photograph provided by WINFA