Fairtrade Fortnight
The next FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT will be from Monday 9 September – Sunday 22 September 2024.
"2024 is our 30th birthday, so we want to use the occasion to highlight how 30 years of working together has made the FAIRTRADE Mark a leader of life-changing impact for farmers and workers across the world."
Fairtrade Fortnight gives us the opportunity to celebrate the farmers and workers who grow the food we eat, promotes the need for a living wage and raises awareness of challenges encountered by developing world communities – one of the most critical issues faced is climate change.
This year, we are asked to spread a simple message: making the small switch to Fairtrade supports producers in protecting the future of some of our most-loved food and the planet.
Invest todayFiorella Anchiraico Montalvo (pictured) began collecting moss eight years ago to earn an income to support her family. She said: “The main change I have seen in the community is that the children can now get the proper food that they need to be healthy and that the community as a whole has an additional source of income to cover the needs we have.”
INVEST IN A FAIRER WORLD
In the Andean Region of South America, the challenging altitudes and landscapes are limiting in terms of income opportunities.
Food insecurity is an issue in rural regions, where many smallholder farmers produce basic food crops, mostly potato, at a
subsistence level. Peruvian social enterprise Inka Moss offers training to support communities to supplement their income by collecting moss in a way that complements the natural ecosystem. They purchase the moss at a fair price and sell it internationally for various uses including in horticulture, to add nutrients to soil.
Access to finance can be an issue for organisations like Inka Moss as agriculture can be seen as a high risk sector, with
production often unpredictable, an issue which is intensified by climate change. Added to this, in the Peruvian Amazon, interest rates are often over 20%, with short repayment periods.
Shared Interest has provided finance to Inka Moss for over five years, to help pay farmers when the moss is harvested.
Working with the moss increases farmers’ annual income by almost a third. The additional employment also makes a huge
difference to families.
We form the vital link between UK social investors and fair trade organisations in 45 countries. Together, we can work hand in hand with farmers, artisans and communities to strengthen enterprises, increase employment opportunities and implement innovative methods of sustainable production.
Transform lives
Shared Interest investors share a vision of a world where justice is at the heart of trade finance.
We form the vital link between UK social investors like you and Fairtrade organisations like Inka Moss who need finance to improve their livelihoods.
Join us and help farmers like Fiorella to earn a living and feed their families.