Spreading Awareness of Fair Trade

Posted by Patrick

September 26, 2008

Working with partners in Africa and supporters in the UK we are identifying and assisting producer groups who can directly benefit from engaging with fair trade networks.

By the time you read this, Shared Interest Foundation Project Leader Andrea Wilkinson will have travelled from Newcastle to Johannesburg to Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Cape Town and back again!

Recording her experiences with a regional newspaper’s blogging site as with the Rwanda trip, Andrea will share her journey with thousands of people across the world.

Starting off in Johannesburg, she will attend the largest trade exhibition in the southern hemisphere before heading off to Swaziland to analyse the needs of eleven fair trade businesses as well as visiting potential new partners.

While there, Andrea will visit Eswatini Kitchen, the very same project that captured the imagination of Foundation supporter Robin Tyler. Staffed entirely by local women from disadvantaged backgrounds, the company buys all its fruit and vegetables from approximately 400 local rural farmers and growers. This includes small scale farmers and women who pick the wild marula, guava, lemons and chillies growing abundantly in Swaziland.

Andrea said: “The benefits of this trip are tenfold. Not only will I get to meet with a variety of South African fair trade organisations and explore new working opportunities but I will also visit projects like Eswatini in Swaziland and the Legends Project in Mpumalanga to see how our funds are being used.”
Moving on to Cape Town from there, Andrea will carry out a several training sessions for staff and producers on fair trade awareness and the work of Shared Interest. Andrea continued: “This is a great opportunity to see the impact of donations and feed this back to our supporters.”