Sainsbury to help African farmers get fair trade certification

UK retailer Sainsbury’s will set aside £1 million over the next four years to help developing world farmers get a Fairtrade label for their produce. The country’s third biggest supermarket said it would target African producers who have not yet gained Fairtrade certification as well as those from other poor countries.

The Fairtrade movement guarantees that growers earn a fair price for their produce and also gives them a premium to re-invest in their community schools, health care or other areas. But before growers can sell their produce under such a label, they must be certified by international bodies such as the UK’s Fairtrade Foundation, which checks for both quality and production methods.

Sainsbury’s said its new fund will pay for assistance to un-certified farmers unsure of how to go about gaining the accreditation. Among the first farmers to get funding from the retailer are Ugandan producers of dried fruit and small-scale peanut farmers in Malawi, who will have access to a credit fund allowing them to buy seeds or machinery to improve production and raise their income.

“Many smallholder groups want to support themselves by selling their products as Fairtrade but they need assistance to get started. This fund will help fill that gap,” said Harriet Lamb, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation.

Consumers in the UK are buying increasing quantities of Fairtrade goods, attracted to the market by a growing consciousness about the way food is produced as well as a desire to buy better quality, premium products. Sales of Fairtrade-certified products in the UK, Europe’s biggest market, grew by 46 per cent last year to £290 million, while volumes were up 60 per cent, according to the Fairtrade Foundation.

Such rapid growth in demand is encouraging British retailers to switch entire lines to only Fairtrade- approved products.

Since July, Sainsbury’s has only supplied Fairtrade bananas and it claims that the fruit has risen in popularity by five per cent since it first announced plans for the move. The retailer has made other commitments to Fairtrade, sending a Fairtrade ambassador to Kenya earlier this year to scout for areas requiring further development. It needs to expand its Fairtrade sales, after pledging to grow sales of products under the label by 145 per cent this year to £130 million.

Business Daily Africa