Archive for October, 2008
Fair Trade wine in Cape Town
The following is a Business Development Update by Rachel Ngondo, Regional Development Executive, Africa We have had rains in the past week here in Nairobi, however today has been a lovely sunny day and it’s beautiful to see the flowering Jacaranda trees all over the city. It’s that time of the year when Nairobi is truly the [...]
London celebrates becoming Fairtrade capital of the world!
From the fair trade London website – http://www.fairtradelondon.org.uk/ Londoners have more choice than ever before when it comes to selecting Fairtrade in the nation’s capital, as on Thursday 23 October, 2008, London became the world’s largest Fairtrade City. Hundreds of businesses have signed up to the campaign, meaning that Londoners will never again have to [...]
Developing Fair Trade Lending in Colombia
The following is a weekly report from Hugo Villela, Market Development Executive – Central America. Hello all. I thought you would like to hear how my recent trip to Colombia went. My trip had several objectives. First, I wanted to meet with a company called Fruandes to see how things are progressing. Secondly, I need [...]
Vote For Women
The following is from Andrea Wilkinson’s travel blog. Well after a long four-month process, the final results of Swaziland’s elections were announced and it seems the Vote for Women campaign has had little success. You may remember Tholiwe Tsela from my previous blogs. (Revisit ‘Shining a Light on Swaziland Struggles to refresh your memory.) Tholiwe [...]
Message from the President: World Fair Trade Organization
Dear members We have a new name: World Fair Trade Organization. During the IFAT AGM in Sri Lanka, members agreed to change our name by a 91% majority. We thank all our members for making their voice heard, and look forward to telling the world who we are and what we stand for. While we [...]
A Party Fit for a King
The following is from Andrea Wilkinson’s travel blog. A celebration took place in one of the world’s last remaining kingdoms last week. And what a celebration it was! After all, we’re talking about King Mwasti III’s 40th birthday as well as the 40th year of independence for Swaziland. Of course, it may feel slightly bizarre [...]
Remembering the Queen’s Award
When I was first asked to accompany the MD to Buckingham Palace, I was more surprised than anything but also flattered because, out of a staff team of around 25 people, it was a real compliment to be selected. This all happened a few months ago, but perhaps it wasn’t until David Moore from the [...]
Another Great Day for Fair Trade Lending!!
We are very pleased to announce that today we have sent $200k to Ten Thousand Villages USA (TTV) in the form of 4 new shop loans. TTV use these loans in order to finance inventory for their new stores. Given the current climate in the market place, it is encouraging to see that TTV continue [...]
Hugo’s Recent Award Getting Press Coverage
It’s always nice to get the recognition one deserves. As you may have read in a recent post, Hugo Villela, our Regional Development Executive, was the recent winner of Third Sector’s ‘alternative rich list’. The Co-operatives UK just ran a nice piece on their website about this accomplishment. It was also mentioned in the Network2012 Newsletter. Congratulations Hugo, [...]
Finding the Unity in Community
The following is from Andrea Wilkinson’s travel blog. As is usually the case, what I expected to be the most daunting part of my trip has turned out to be the best bit. I must remember this next time something challenging comes my way! Ok, so I’ve now trained 100 people from three different countries: [...]