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International News

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This section features news about some of the key happenings in Fair Trade around the world.

Schools urged to achieve Fair Trade status

- Westmorland Gazette, UK

Schoolchildren across South Lakeland could help people living in developing countries, according to their MP.

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, has embarked on a drive to encourage schools in the district to achieve Fair Trade status.

“Young people living in rural communities like ours can relate very well to the injustices experienced by farming communities in poorer countries,” he said. (more…)

Organic olive oil fair trade project improves social and economic situation in Palestine

- MediaGlobal

The Rebuilding Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rebuilding communities and advocating government policies based on human rights and international law in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Their many notable campaigns have included uniting Palestinians and Israelis to rebuild homes and schools, saving a village in the Jordan River Valley, building a playground in memory of a young Palestinian girl, and registering a mini-zoning plan with the Jerusalem municipality. (more…)

Peru expanding role as specialty coffee leader

- Reuters

LA MERCED, Peru, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Coffee production in Peru, the world’s largest exporter of organic coffee, is booming as growers focus on quality, develop niche markets and find ways around walls that can block growth.

After starting his farm four years ago, Peruvian coffee farmer Oscar Chavez, 32, has transformed his organic project into a viable business. He stood on the top ridge of his fair-trade field recently, gazing at plants bursting with fire red and yellow berries, and saw a bright future. (more…)

Jamaica giving up on export bananas - Local consumption triples foreign sales

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Jamaica has virtually written off bananas as an export crop, and will be using the next five years to develop niche markets for the fruit and grow local consumption.

“The future of banana, for me, is primarily in local consumption, including local value-added,” said Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton. (more…)

Fairtrade Recognised by Consumers

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A recent public survey conducted by Colmar Brunton on behalf of the Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand (FTAANZ) indicates consumer recognition of the FAIRTRADE Label has now reached 36% in New Zealand, an increase from a similar survey conducted 2 years ago that showed just 2% recognition at that time. (more…)

Could all nations be fair trade like Wales?

- Smart Planet

Wales becomes the first Fair Trade Nation

This month Wales announced that it had become the world’s first fair trade nation. So what’s next — a fair trade United Kingdom, a fair trade Europe, or even a fair trade world?

For Wales to become a fair trade nation, it set up criteria (and then met them) with the help of the Fairtrade Foundation and charities such as Oxfam and Christian Aid. This included doing things like having Fairtrade campaign groups in 55 per cent of towns, using and promoting Fairtrade products like coffee, tea and biscuits in the meetings and offices of the Welsh Assembly and promoting Fairtrade awareness in faith groups and schools around Wales. (more…)

Oikocredit: Socially Responsible Investments

- CSR-news.net

The experience of Oikocredit shows how financial and social returns of investments do not need to be exclusive: Once a pioneer in the field of development financing, Oikocredit is today recognized as one of the largest financiers of microfinance world wide and one of the few ethical investment funds, privately financed by around 600 institutions and 30,000 individual investors from all over the world. Oikocredit believes that providing poor people with credit can help them building themselves a better life. (more…)

European Sales of Organic and Fair Trade Fresh Produce Exceeded the EUR 5 Billion Mark in 2007 As Ethical Consumerism Increases to Grow

- Red Orbit, TX

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/35fefc/the_european_marke) has announced the addition of the “The European Market for Ethical Fruit & Vegetables: Organic and Fairtrade” report to their offering.

This report on The European Market for Ethical Fruit & Vegetables is the first-ever study that examines the organic and fair trade sectors of the fresh produce industry. This report gives a comprehensive analysis and forecasts for the leading fresh fruit & vegetable product categories in this emerging market. Expert analysis and strategic recommendations are provided to existing producers, new entrants and investors. (more…)

Black gold: How Fairtrade put the cream into Uganda’s coffee

- Guardian, UK

‘I witnessed many things,’ says Henry Wandwasi, slowly - and his eyes, I notice, have the sorrowful, dead look of a man still processing the unimaginable. ‘There were 50 or 60 bodies in the river, blocking the water pump that supplied Mbale town. The water was the colour of blood, smelling of blood. In fact, people avoided drinking it and used spring water instead. We removed the bodies and took them to Mbale mortuary. Amin’s people then used a tractor; they dug a mass grave and buried them like that.’ (more…)

Microfinance: Investments With a Social Return

- www.prnewswire.co.uk

The 32nd Annual General Meeting of Oikocredit - one of the leading financiers of microfinance worldwide - decided to pay a dividend of 2% to its members for the 15th year in a row. This may come as a surprise, considering the higher returns some new microfinance funds are promising. (more…)

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