Chocolate, Small Farmers, Fair Trade and You This presentation is about chocolate, the lives of small farmers, how Fair Trade makes their lives better, and the role you can play.

A million tons of cacao for North America Americans import almost a million tons of cacao (ca-COW), the bean that chocolate comes from, to make into hot cocoa, chocolate bars and candy.

just north and south of the Equator four and a half million small farms Where does our chocolate come from? Mostly from four and a half million small farms around the world, just north and south of the equator . . .

36 million farming families . . . supporting 36 million farming families . . .

four million tons for export . . . who grow almost four million tons of cacao a year, for export to Europe and North America. four million tons for export

1.5 Million Tons West Africa Cote d’Ivoire The world’s largest producer of cacao is Cote d’Ivoire (coat deev-WAR), a former French colony in West Africa. In 2007, Cote d’Ivoire grew about 1.5 million tons of cacao, almost 40% of the world’s total production.

90% A small number of large international companies purchase 90% of Cote d’Ivoire’s cacao, and use their monopoly to keep prices to farmers as low as possible.

To cut costs, some Ivorian cacao farmers lure thousands of young people from neighboring countries, desperate for work, to enslavement on their farms.

END SLAVERY! For over ten years, consumer groups and human rights organizations have demanded the end of this slavery . . .

END SLAVERY! . . . and that major candy manufacturers police their industry or stop buying slave-grown chocolate.

END SLAVERY! But to date, little has been done

pix: village Slavery is the worst abuse, but there are many other injustices and hardships among small farmers of all kinds. In remote villages around the world, small farming families struggle to make a living,

often on marginal land,

facing natural disasters,

Cacao Prices Since 1994, dollars/ton fluctuating, mostly low, prices, Cacao Prices Since 1994, dollars/ton

and political repression.

In many places, farmers have formed co-operatives . . .

. . . to obtain land . . .

. . . market their crops . . .

Clean water project at CONACADO Co-operative, Dominican Republic Classroom at Alto-Occidente Co-operative, Colombia . . . develop their communities . . .

. . . and assert their rights.

The story of This is the story of one co-operative, CONACADO, the National Confederation of Dominican Cacao producers. ====== “CONACADO” stands for Confederacion Nacional Cacaotelero Dominicana.

Florida Mexico Cuba Central America South America In the Dominican Republic, until the 1980s . . .

40,00 small farmers Low quality, unpredictable price. forty thousand small farmers grew cacao, which they sold to four big companies, the “fat cats” who controlled the market. The cacao was of low quality and brought farmers an unpredictable price. unpredictable price.

Fermenting cacao beans in wooden tanks Harvested cacao pods Opening the pods to get the beans Sun-drying the beans Ready to ship In the mid 80s, the founders of CONACADO taught farmers about better ways to process beans, from harvesting to extracting to fermenting to drying, to make higher quality cacao and get a better price.

They also organized the farmers into associations . . .

. . . and found buyers for the better cacao, bypassing the four companies who controlled the industry.

In twenty years, CONACADO has grown from 700 members to over 9,000, organized into nine districts all over the Dominican Republic.

and appoints committees to run the work week to week. Yearly General Assembly decides work plans and use of community development money and appoints committees to run the work week to week. Each of the districts makes major decisions democratically in annual meetings, and appoints committees to run their work week to week.

25% 46,369 Tons Dominican Republic By 2007, CONACADO members produced a quarter of the Dominican Republic’s cacao.

and small farmers have an alternative to selling to the four big buyers.

Over 40% of CONACADO’s cacao is sold to Fair Trade organizations like Equal Exchange, Cocoa Camino in Canada and other Fair Traders in Europe.

Fair Traders Stable, fair price Social premium Affordable credit Long-term relationship Support for sustainable farming Fair Trade organizations like Equal Exchange promise co-ops like CONACADO: => a stable, fair price for their crops; => a “social premium” on top of the price, for community development projects; => Affordable credit, before harvest, so farmers don’t have to borrow from predatory lenders; => a long term direct relationship between farmers and Fair Traders, and => support for growing the co-op and sustainable farming methods, like organic.

A well for drinking water at Bloque No A well for drinking water at Bloque No. 2, built with “Social Premium” funds. The Social Premium is distributed to the bloques for use in their communities. Projects include roads, housing and electricity projects, and water projects like this one;

Drying tunnel, allowing beans to dry off the ground, protected from the weather. projects also include improvements to cacao processing;

El Mogote school in Yamasa. school supplies, scholarships and school buildings. El Mogote school in Yamasa. school supplies, scholarships and school buildings.

40 co-operatives in 20 countries CONACADO is one of 40 co-operatives in 20 countries . . .

from whom Equal Exchange purchases coffee, chocolate, tea, sugar, nuts, berries and bananas.

India, Tanzania, Colombia and Sri Lanka. Each of these co-ops has its own history, but they all have the goal of democracy and prosperity for their members. India, Tanzania, Colombia and Sri Lanka.

Our job is to act in solidarity with them. Equal Exchange Staff visiting Ethiopia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and South Africa

Worker-Owned Co-operative 100% Fair Trade Worker-Owned Co-operative Equal Exchange is a 100% Fair Trade, worker-owned co-operative, which started in 1986.

We partner with the Catholic Relief Services Fair Trade Program to bring our products to Catholic churches, organizations and schools.

We donate a portion of our sales to the CRS Fair Trade Fund, which helps farmers overseas find buyers for their crops, both in their own countries and in the United States.

You can join this effort, in solidarity with small farmers, when you Raise Money Right with Catholic Relief Services and Equal Exchange.

Raise Money for your school or organization and Now you can raise money for your school or organization, and

help farm families, including students like you, and help farming families, including students like you, to build their communities, and

make a donation to Catholic Relief Services and

educate your community about Fair Trade, and educate your community about Fair Trade and farming families the world over; and

give them delicious, organic, Fair Trade chocolate! give your community delicious, organic Fair Trade chocolate.

Click on “Fundraising” then “Catholic Schools” Visit our web site at http://www.equalexchange.coop Click on “Fundraising” then “Catholic Schools” to learn how you can Raise Money Right