A new $4.5 million ‘Fairtrade for Aid in the Indo-Pacific’ partnership between the federal government and Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand has been announced.
The four year partnership, announced by Julie Bishop, Minister for Foreign Affairs on 3 November, is expected to build support for Fairtrade products in Australia and link smallholder producers in developing Indo-Pacific countries to international and regional markets.
Molly Harriss Olson, CEO of Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, said the partnership will help improve the living conditions of producers in developing countries.
“Up to 70 percent of the staple foods in some developing countries come from poor small farmers, living on as little as $2 a day. Eighty-seven percent of the world’s small farms are in Asia and the Pacific.
“We have an enormous opportunity to improve people’s lives by alleviating poverty and creating more sustainable livelihoods in this part of the world,” Harriss Olson said.
According to Harriet Lamb, CEO of Fairtrade International, the organisation has 1,210 producer groups and more than 1.4 million producers in 74 countries, generating almost $7 billion in retail sales around the world.
Businesses Fairtrade works with include Grinders Coffee, Mondelez (Cadbury), Woolworths, Coles, Kathmandu, Queen Vanilla, Jaspers Coffee, All Good Organics and Alter Eco.