Where in the World? Before beginning the assembly review the meaning of fair trade with the students and think about the different ways in which it helps producers in the developing world. A fairer price for their produceThe fairtrade premium which contributes to community development. Explain that there are over 3,000 fair trade products available including food, drink, crafts, clothes and even rubber gloves! They are going to focus on 6 of them. Either, hold up the samples of each commodity and ask students to identify them or, use the photos on Slide 2.

Commodities are: Sugar, rice, quinoa (made into pasta), sugar, raisins, honey and dried blueberries.

Ask students to guess where in the world Traidcraft buys these fair trade commodities from. (If using the PowerPoint, the commodity & name of the country will appear on the map on Slide 3 when clicked in the order below) As each commodity appears, talk to the students about them. What do they know about them? How are they grown? What kind of climate do they need? Do we/could we grow them in the UK? Have they ever bought fair trade sugar, honey etc? Sugar (Produced in Malawi/ Packed in Mauritius) Malawi is the second biggest producer of cane sugar after South Africa. Sugar cane is a grass.Originally pieces of the stem used to be chewed as a snack in Asia – it wasn’t until later that people thought of extracting the sugar from the plant.It’s not necessarily packed at the same place as its harvested. Craft Aid in Mauritius pack sugar which is harvested from 30,000 mills and processed in 4 mills before arriving at their factory. Britain owns 51% of Illovo sugar, which is Africa’s biggest supplier of sugar. What influence do you think Britain has over the African sugar market? Raisins (South Africa, Chile)Raisins are dried grapes. MiFruta and Eksteenskuil Agricultural Co-operative both dry their raisins in the sun for between 12-15 days. Not sure we’d be able to do that in the UK!4 lbs of fresh grapes make 1 lb of raisins. It takes three years to produce a single raisin, from planting the vine to harvesting. In the 14th century, Christmas puddings were made as a kind of soup with raisins and wine. According to Oxfam, in the fruit-picking sector in Chile, 75% of women work more than 60 hours a week in season on temporary contracts, and a third of them do not earn even the minimum wage. How can we ensure that fair trade reaches everyone in a country not just the few? (e.g. getting governments to change laws) Rice (India (Basmati rice), Thailand (Jasmine rice))India accounts for about 70% of the world’s production of Basmati rice and most of it (almost two thirds) is exported.Basmati rice needs to be cut by hand. In Thailand some farmers on the paddy fields use ducks instead of pesticides to get rid of insects on their crops. There are more than 40,000 different types of rice. Rice is the main food for half the people in the world. Rice farmers are suffering from other countries (like the USA) dumping subsidised rice in their domestic markets, meaning that the local farmers’ prices are undercut, having devastating effects. Who is in charge of international trade law and why won’t they do something about richer countries taking advantage of the poorer ones? (The World Trade Organisation (WTO) sets international trade laws and richer countries have a great many more resources at their disposal meaning that they enter trade negotiations with the upper hand.) Honey (Chile) Bee-keeping can be traced back to 700BC.Honey is a natural remedy which helps heal small cuts. It’s reported that archaeologists found 2,000 year old pots of honey in Egyptian tombs and they still tasted okay! Bees form honey out of nectar by storing it in their second stomach and then regurgitating it when they are back at their hive. It takes 50,000 bees to produce 500 lbs of honey in one year. Apicoop in Chile ship over 44,000 lbs of honey every year. That’s a lot of Chilean bees working very hard. According to a university research project in 2008 which surveyed shoppers in ASDA and Waitrose in South London, over half (56%) of 16-25 years old were aware of fair trade products but only 19% considered purchasing them. How many of the students would consider purchasing fair trade products? Do they think that more people are becoming aware of fair trade? Dried Blueberries (Chile) Apicoop’s fair trade dried blueberries are the first ones ever in the world. Blueberry bushes take 3 years to mature before they can be harvested. Native Americans used to make dye out of blueberries and use it to colour baskets and cloth. Apicoop provides jobs for up to 15 women on the Blueberry field. According to a report by the Fair Trade Federation in 2009, the proportion of women involved in producing non-food fair trade goods had risen to 76%.How important are women to fair trade? (There are many female farmers, but more important is the role of women in the family. If women learn about fair trade they then pass this down to their children.) Quinoa (Bolivia)Quinoa is traditionally grown in South America from northern Ecuador to southern Bolivia. Quinoa is technically the fruit of a leafy plant, although it’s generally classified as a grain like rice. Quinoa can survive on only 2 inches of rain a year and is frost resistant – perfect for the high slopes of the Andes in Bolivia where Anapqui farmers live. In the ancient Inca kingdoms in Southern America, quinoa was a staple food. It’s reported that each year the Inca emperor would plant quinoa seeds using a golden spade! Ask students for their opinions on fair trade. Have they changed at all? Have they learnt anything new?

Where in the World?