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Fairtrade launches a global campaign to make farmers’ voices heard

To mark World Fair Trade Day, Fairtrade is launching a worldwide campaign to raise awareness of the lack of power and influence in global supply chains that keeps farmers and workers in low-income countries poor.

The Make Your Mark campaign, running across 10 markets, highlights the power imbalance that leaves millions of farmers and workers behind our staple food products underpaid and exploited despite playing a critical role in global food security. This is exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Fairtrade is asking supporters to sign up to a fairer future by committing to three pledges by 11 June this year. The three ways to Make Your Mark with Fairtrade include: Choose Fairtrade, Spread the Word, and Vote Fair.

The fact is that producers are at the end of long supply chains, disconnected from consumers, and they lack negotiating power to make their voices heard when business deals are being made. To address these issues, the farmers need a proper seat at the table when laws and regulations are being developed to make sure their concerns are listened to and their interests protected.

Without fair pay and a proper say and long-term trading relationships, millions of farmers and workers simply won't survive in the coming decades, Fairtrade warns.

Farmers' voices across Latin America, Asia, and Africa are consistently ignored or marginalized by powerful business interests in the north – a legacy of the colonial era and slave trade.

We can all make a difference if we demand change, says Fairtrade. Consumers in the UK are now feeling the effects of climate change in their own pockets – bread prices this year will rise as extreme weather causes smaller grain harvests.

In the UK alone, 110,000 supporters already actively support Fairtrade's advocacy asks. It is expected that thousands more campaigners in other Fairtrade markets and producer origins around the world will join together to show their support.

The campaign features a consumer pledge and a series of short films and farmers' stories that unveil the bitter truth behind some of our favorite foods.

Specially-commissioned films featuring hero Fairtrade farmers show consumers how their choices – buying Fairtrade bananas, coffee or cotton – can change the lives and futures of farmers, workers and their communities. They are produced in collaboration with Fairtrade's producer networks CLAC, NAPP and Fairtrade Africa and tell the stories of three 'hero' farmers

Stefan Donnelly, The Fairtrade Foundation's Senior Campaigns Manager said: "Farmers are telling us climate change, unfair trade and lack of representation in decision-making forums is making life impossible: poverty forces families to choose between essentials like medical care, children's education and decent food.


For more information:
Fairtrade Foundation
5.7 The Loom, 14 Gower's Walk
London E1 8PY
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7405 5942
Email: [email protected]

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