The Max Havelaar Foundation has been working for smallholders and plantation workers in developing and newly-industrialised countries for 25 years. Sustained cultivation, cooperation and a knowledge of good cultivation methods are the main focus. Fairtrade producers get a better price and the bonus allows them to launch their own projects that benefit themselves and their community. With Fairtrade, everybody wins!
Today, more than 1.6 million smallholders and plantation workers in 74 countries benefit from the Fairtrade system, of which more than half work in coffee. In Switzerland, there are more than 2400 Fairtrade products: from bananas from Ecuador to roses from Kenya to cotton from India and gold from Peru. Each Swiss citizen spends 62 francs a year on Fairtrade products, more than in any other country! In total, in Switzerland, over 500 million Swiss francs worth of Fairtrade products are consumed.
The Max Havelaar Foundation was founded on February 14, 1992 by the six Swiss charities: Swissaid, Fastenpfer, Brot für Alle, Helvetas, Caritas and Heks, together with the import cooperative 3. Welt OS3 (today claro fair trade AG) and the World Shop movement. The trigger was the drop in coffee prices on the world market. Following a campaign, the Swiss population was alerted to the fact that work for smallholder families in developing countries was becoming less and less worthwhile.
For more information:
Max Havelaar-Stiftung
Limmatstrasse 107
8005 Zürich
Schweiz
Tel: +41 44 278 99 00
Fax: +41 44 567 89 59
E-Mail: info@maxhavelaar.ch