Cocoa farmers get to see a UK farm in action

Latest post from Tom Allen of Trading Visions:

While here in UK for Fairtrade Fortnight, Elias and Agnes had asked if they would be able to visit a farm.

We were able to set up a visit to Ripple Farm, a small organic farm situated in the Stour Valley in Kent. The owners Martin and Sarah were kind enough give up a few hours of their Sunday afternoon to show us around and explain how everything works.

Martin cuts some beetroot for everyone to try

It was great to see Elias and Agnes in the fields of Kent. When Kuapa Kokoo farmers visit, they generally get to visit all kinds of amazing places – from company offices, to town halls, to schools, to national civic buildings – but they rarely ever get into the countryside. Here they were in their element: talking to a farmer like themselves.

They fired off questions at Martin as we walked around Ripple Farm: how do they do the weeding, how many people work on the farm, how many vegetables are cultivated, what sort of equipment and machinery do they use…

Comparing the impact of the seasons and the weather in the UK and Ghana was a recurring topic of conversation. As we stood looking at several rows of leeks, the cocoa farmers were amazed to hear that most of them had been planted twelve months earlier.

“In Ghana,” said Agnes, “I plant maize and three months later I harvest it.”

Martin from Ripple smiled ruefully as he explained that when they plant maize for corn on the cob they will harvest one round of corn each year, and only if it is warm enough.

We walked though a field of brassicas, tasting leaves from various kinds of cabbage, curly kale and cavolo nero. We dug up a swede – Elias thought it was much like yam. We uncovered beetroot from under a winter bed of straw. The farmers observed that you didn’t need to keep crops warm like that in Ghana. They tried beetroot for the first time and thought it was delicious.

Ripple Farm also rent a beautiful Victorian walled garden up on a hill, with a stunning circular wall around it. Here they grow salad leaves in various old greenhouses. One of the greenhouses contained a warm and humid plant raising nursery, which the cocoa farmers loved.

Elias was very interested in exactly how Martin sells his vegetables. Do buyers come to the farm? Do they haggle? Martin explained that they take the vegetables to shops and farmers markets, locally and in London. He tends to set the price, and the English don’t go in for much haggling!

The cocoa farmers enjoyed climbing on the big potato harvester and admired Martin’s vintage 1950s tractor. Despite the fact that Ripple Farm is actually a small, low tech, labour intensive farm by British standards, Elias and Agnes remarked on how many machines there were compared with their own farms in Ghana where the only tool is a machete and everything is done by hand.

Afterwards, Martin and Sarah treated us to a delicious lunch and we took the train back to London.

Sweet news from Kasinthula

Did you know that all the Fairtrade sugar in Divine comes from Kasinthula Cane Growers Association in Malawi.  Masauko Khembo has travelled over from Kasinthula to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight here in UK. Here at Divine we’re looking forward to meeting him and hearing more about Kasinthula – but in the meantime we asked him a few questions….

Kasinthula women preparing seedcane

KasinthulaCane GrowersAssociation (KCG) is a smallholder sugar cane projectlocated in the in hospitable Shire River Valley District of Chikhwawa in the south of Malawi.Long droughts occasionally result in famine and the twice-yearly rains frequently bring floods.Most families eke out a living growingmaize, cassava or rice on the arid land, whileothers earn cash from sugar cane or cotton or work on nearby sugar plantations. Poverty is rife with most people living in very basic mud huts and few able to afford to keep livestock.

Masauko visiting Divine Chocolate

What do you think of Divine Chocolate, which is made with Fairtrade sugar from Kasinthula?
Having tasted it I find it much better in terms of taste than those we buy at home which are made in South Africa. Divine Chocolate and other organisations that use Kasinthula Fairtrade sugar are like bringing divine intervention on reduction of poverty on Kasinthula farmers and surrounding communities. Lives of Kasinthula farmers and surrounding communities have really been transformed through FT.

What is the most important impact that being Fairtrade certified has made on the lives of sugar farmers in Malawi?

So much impact. Not only on sugarcane farmers but even the communities around the sugarcane farms. One example I would give is the primary school that has been constructed using Fairtrade premium funds. Before the school construction children had to walk more than 5km to the nearest school. For them to be able to walk such distance they had to be 7 or 8 years old. With the school they are able to start school at 5. Because of starting school late most girls could not complete primary school before getting married. With the school they will be in eighth grade which is the last in primary school at the age of 13. They should be able to go to secondary school before they think of getting married.

Kasinthula farmers are now living in better houses (brick walled and iron sheet roofed). Most of them have houses that are electrified. They now have access to portable water separating them from livestock in terms of sharing source of drinking water.

What are your hopes for the future – for you personally – and for Kasinthula? What is your message for people here in the UK (and the USA where Divine Chocolate is too)?
Personally my hope is to work for a bigger Kasinthula with more farmers than currently are. A bigger Kasinthula means more people getting out of a poverty trap. For the people in UK and US my message is buy more of Divine chocolate. There may be more brands of chocolate in the market but by buying Divine chocolate you are supporting famers and surrounding communities at Kasinthula. You are sponsoring construction of schools, improving maternal and child health of the people of Kasinthula, you are preventing sharing of drinking water between animals and people as people are now drinking from boreholes drilled using premium funds while animals continue drinking from rivers.

What was so nice about Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight is the most full-on and extraordinary two weeks of our year (not to mention all the time planning it) and we, and the farmers, meet more fantastic people in 14 days than one would hope to in a whole year. It’s exhausting – but amazing.  (And big thanks to Tal for co-ordinating the whole thing)

Catching up with some sleep on the train to Oxford

While the wonderful events and brilliant audiences are what we hope and aim for – it can be some of the small things that create some of the best memories.  Here are some of mine….

Harriet and Fatima learned to say “Fabulous”, “Marvellous” and “Outstanding!” while they were on this trip – for example when they really mastered going up and down on the escalators – Harriet announced they were “Outstanding!!”

It was some of the people we just bumped into by chance that gave us a real feelgood experience – like the ticket man at London Bridge tube who was really interested in who the farmers were and why they were here, and said how many of his friends were Ghanaian and how great he thought Fairtrade was.  And Giles the sound engineer at BBC who connected the interview down the line with “Costing the Earth” – who confessed he was an enormous Divine fan.  And the Hungarian girl working in the Bermondsey Street Teapod who was amazed to be introduced to two of the cocoa farmers behind Divine – “it’s my absolutely favourite chocolate,” she cried, “and I should know, I have tried them all!”.  (Nice to be able to tell her you can now buy Divine in Hungary).

Meeting up with other producers is always special too – Harriet and Fatima were introduced to Dyborn from Malawi (where the nuts for Harry’s Nuts come from) – and there’s an instant affinity between fellow Africans and fellow farmers.

And finally – on our last afternoon together (returning from a mega shopping session in town) – great excitement behind me and lots of pointing.  They had spotted a squirrel and their immediate response was to ask if we could kill it for bush meat.  I had to concur about the frequent desire to kill squirrels (from a gardener point of view) but not so sure about the bush meat part of it…. we left him to cause more havoc in South East London.

Fairtrade and Women and Pancakes

Fatima and Harriet in their Kuapa dresses at Oxford Town Hall

In Oxford today – this morning as guests of Mid-Counties Co-op at their Fairtrade Fair in the gloriously ornate Oxford Town Hall. After a Fairtrade fashion parade featuring models from 6 months to 60, and their first taste of pancakes, Kuapa farmers Harriet and Fatima presented their experience of farming and Fairtrade. There were lots of questions, photos, and then African drummers from Guinea (via Stourport).

Harriet and Fatima try their first pancakes

In the afternoon we jumped into a cab up to Oxfam GB (divine’s long time supporter and customer) to join their celebration of International Women’s Day. They were involving the staff in a day of talks and displays about gender issues worldwide (Oxfam is one of the NGOs contributing to the EQUALs compaign). Harriet and Fatima drew a big crowd, standing room only. This time they both gave much more personal stories about how membership of their co-operative had empowered them. They have achieved such great things and are inspiring role models for other young women in their communities. They were asked if there was any male backlash (sometimes men are jealous they say), about the size of their farms and cocoa prices. Later they were off to dinner with the buyers for all the Oxfam shops.

Fatima and Harriet at Oxfam GB

Fatima and Harriet with the Oxfam buyers Inma Andres and Sophie Brill

Kuapa farmers meet Nobel Peace Prize winner

Fatima and Harriet, continuing their tour as ambassadors for Kuapa Kokoo and Divine Chocolate, joined up with PeaceJam in Bradford, and met Betty Williams a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and Chino, a fairtrade blueberries producer from Chile.

Harriet and Fatima - with Betty Williams (left) and fellow Fairtrade farmer Chino

Kuapa farmers celebrate Fairtrade in Ireland

While Harriet and Fatima have set off North to Liverpool – their Kuapa colleagues Stephen and Isaac have arrived in Dublin (after a rather unexpectedly long journey from Kumasi in Ghana).  First stop the Sugar Club, hosted by Fairtrade Ireland and our own Divine David Greenwood-Haigh.

Kuapa farmers Isaac and Stephen outside the Sugar Club in Dublin

Celebrating Fairtrade along the Meridian

Sophi reports from the first event in Greenwich:

Harriet & Fatima, fresh from the rainforest in the Western Region of Ghana, braved the freezing British winter to launch of Fairtrade Fortnight 2011 in Greenwich.  Greenwich became a Fairtrade Town in 2006.  (And by the way Ghana is also on the zero meridian and Greenwich is Twinned with Tema in Ghana.) Cllr John Fahy and Cllr Jim Gillman the Deputy Mayor of Greenwich welcomed everyone to the newly refurbished Eltham Centre and congratulated everyone for the success of Fairtrade, the market is now worth more £1.17 billion in the UK and is benefiting millions of poor farmers around the world. 

Deputy Mayor of Greenwich Cllr Jim Gillman and Cllr John Fahy with Harriet Boatemaa and Fatima Ali

Chris from Cards for Africa  spoke and showed a little film showing how buying a beautiful greetings card can support dignified jobs for young people in Rwanda who have been orphaned by the war.  

I introduced Harriet and Fatima and congratulated Greenwich on being a Fairtrade Town. I’m really proud London has achieved Fairtrade Status and is the largest Fairtrade City in the world.  I hope Greenwich will help us achieve our ambition of delivering the First Fairtrade Olympics.

Harriet and Fatima described their experience as farmers – how they cultivate, harvest, ferment and dry the cocoa beans that go into Divine and how they have benefited from the additional premiums they earn from Fairtrade sales.  They showed bonny pictures of children in schools they have built and people enjoying clean water from wells that have been sunk.  Kuapa’s commitment to gender empowerment has been made real by the presence of these two confident young women. They never could have imagined that they would be representing their co-operative , a successful business trading 30,000 tonnes of cocoa with a turnover more then $50 million last year.

Celebrating Divine Women for Fairtrade Fortnight

This year we’re Celebrating Divine Women for Fairtrade Fortnight - the amazing women who have supported Divine (and those who just loving eating it!) here in the UK and Ireland, as well as the women of Kuapa Kokoo who’ve been empowered by their organisation and grasped new opportunities with both hands.

Tal at Divine HQ has done an incredible job of putting the Divine/Kuapa roadshow together -  this year we’ll be taking in Liverpool, Warrington, Bradford and then heading south to Oxford, Cardiff and London.  Not only that – but we’re combining both a celebration of Fairtrade and the centenary of International Women’s Day – hopefully throwing in some partying for Ghana Independence Day too. (Find out more about the tour here)

Everything kicked off early this morning with the arrival of Fatima Ali and Harriet Boatemaa at Heathrow - two young cocoa farmers on their first trip out of Ghana – and full of amazement and curiosity about everything they see.  First plane, first escalator, first brick houses, first very fat black cat..lots of firsts.

I thought this was an apt spot to take a picture of Fatima and Harriet

Tomorrow they’ll be coming in to meet everyone at Divine – and then off to their first Fairtrade Fortnight event in Greenwich.  I left them watching The Railway Children in their hotel – and excited about all the new experiences to come. 

Harriet and Fatima at Tower Bridge

We’ll be aiming to blog, tweet and post on Facebook as much as we can while we’re on our travels. Really hope you’ll all join in.

A Divine Fortnight finale in London

Emil Sands receiving his award from Comfort and Kojo

A very early start on Friday – heading up to Hampstead to visit University College School - for a special reason.  We were there to hand over the prize for the winning poem in this year’s Divine Poetry Competition.  The winner Emil Sands (age 11) had a vague notion something might happen but his classmates were blissfully ignorant – and amazed to find two cocoa farmers and a load of chocolate in their form room as they arrived!  Emil read his poem aloud - the farmers thought it was amazing – and we answered lots of questions about how cocoa grows and all the reasons to choose Divine and Dubble.  We also handed over some Dubble Gold Sport Relief chocolate medals - as they had lots of Sport Relief events planned.  A great start to the day.

It got better – we popped into Body Shop Hampstead - and I introduced the farmers (Kuapa Kokoo supplies all the cocoa butter that goes into Body Shop products). The girls there knew all about Kuapa and were absolutely thrilled, and showered the farmers with gifts to take home to their families.

Then on to Premier Christian Radio for an interview with Bridgitte Tetteh.  That was great fun – lots of laughing – and Kojo and Comfort broke into song. They included an item on their regular news bulletin about the farmers all day and still to broadcast the full interview – will add a link when they do.

Comfort and Kojo 'fly' on the Eye

On Saturday morning - a trip on the London Eye which was a really big hit!! (Note to self – must go up on it myself sometime!!). Then on to Chiswick (my home town) and sampling all afternoon at As Nature Intended and Eco-Age. Supper at Nando’s (Peri peri chicken wings) and on to St Michael’s and All Angels where Chiswick Churches for Justice and Peace had organised a Ghanaian spectacular – to celebrate both Fairtrade Fortnight and Ghana Independence Day.  There was an exhibition of Ghanaian artifacts and history + work by Ghanaian artists.  A full house, Ghanaian music, a great presentation by Kojo and Comfort – and a real revelation moment when the audience realised that Divine is not only Fairtrade – but also 45% owned by Kuapa Kokoo. A real reason to choose Divine – and to keep campaigning for a fairer deal for farmers.

Introducing the Fairtrade concert at the Barbican

On Sunday it was a concert at the Barbican – as part of the Do Something Different weekend. The whole place was heaving with children doing artwork and taking part in all sorts of projects.  Young people from City youth groups had worked really hard on their own compositions inspired by Fairtrade and they performed them beautifully. I was really moved and so were Comfort and Kojo – who said how pleased it made them to see young people caring about Fairtrade.  All their families came along and they were so proud.  A fantastic collaboration by Corporation of London, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Barbican. Thank you to everyone who came along. It was really special.

The team behind the Barbican Fairtrade concert

Reverend George Bush from the City of London Fairtrade steering group

 

Fairtrade touring in the Channel Islands

I remember back in October discussing the idea of visiting the Channel Islands for Fairtrade Fortnight. Images of us in the freezing cold sleet, wind and rain did not seem appealing but the Fairtrade steering group on both Jersey and Guernsey offered such a great range of events we just couldn’t say no.

And you know what, it didn’t rain once! In fact it was so sunny and glorious it was like being on holiday. The Islands Fairtrade Groups had organised everything perfectly including the weather.

Wendy, Comfort, Kojo and I set off on Monday 1^st for 3 jammed packed days of school visits, business meetings, Ghanaian dinners, store visits, and chocolate and wine evenings. We also talked to BBC Jersey Radio, the Jersey Evening Post and the Guernsey Press. You name it and we did it!

The highlights for me were

-         watching hundreds of wide eyed children as Kojo described snakes and creepy crawlies on cocoa farms at school assemblies

-         Listening to Kojo speak so beautifully about his life as a farmer when talking to the journalist from the Jersey Evening Post newspaper

-         Smiling with pride at Comforts speech to the Jersey College for Girls where she stated proudly ‘One of you could someday be President of the United Kingdom’

-         Chomping my way through a specially made Divine chocolate cheesecake at Pelican’s Bistro on the last evening in Guernsey

We had such a wonderful time, a big big thank you to Tony, Maggie, Ed, Joy from Jersey and Steve, Nicky, Ann and Phil from Guernsey.