Strategic review
‘Our mission may not be directly connected to the issue of climate change; however, the products, people and communities we support are significantly affected by its impact. In order to take our climate focus forward, we will build partnerships, help encourage our customers to become more climate resilient, and develop information resources for our members.’
Maintaining our Shared Purpose
2022 saw us complete our Strategic Review process, which included our largest ever stakeholder consultation process with interviews, research projects and 130 members participating in online discussion workshops. Throughout our stakeholder consultations, members told us they do not want us to lose sight of the small and disadvantaged organisations we support and that we must maintain the purpose Shared Interest was set up to achieve since 1990.
Implementing our New Strategy
Our new strategy sets out how we will continue to widen our support for fair trade, extending our lending to organisations who are working towards Fairtrade certification, as well as those who meet the 10 Principles of Fair Trade. We will also continue to assist businesses in adapting to the challenge of climate change by building partnerships, encouraging our customers to become more climate resilient, and by developing information resources for our members. Gender equality has an extremely significant part to play in strengthening communities. By supporting women who live in remote and rural regions, we can increase productivity and promote economic growth. Narrowing the gender gap not only helps women prosper, it helps their families and communities thrive. We will therefore continue to support producer organisations that meet our lending criteria and create opportunities for women’s empowerment.
Their Story, Our Role
So that members can further understand what this means in terms of our work, we have begun including these themes in QR, with our Summer 2022 edition featuring stories of climate resilience and our Autumn 2022 issue focusing on the theme of gender equality. By listening to and telling the stories of climate-based challenges and female empowerment from the people and businesses we support, we have aimed to show how Shared Interest can have a significant part to play in strengthening communities by supporting businesses that encourage sustainable agriculture and female inclusion.
You can read the full Social Accounts document here.
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