Archives: Cooperatives

APOVINCES is made up of smallholder farmers (with an average of 8 hectares of land) who grow bananas, cassava, passion fruit, rice and other local products in a diversified way. The aim is to avoid monoculture, although their main product is the national fine aroma cocoa.

One of its objectives has been to reduce the chain of intermediaries, in order to improve the income of its members, as well as to obtain organic and Fairtrade certifications, which increases the selling price of the APOVINCES product. They work to maintain and improve the quality of the cocoa and the productivity of the farm, seeking to reduce environmental impacts. In an associative way they deal with issues such as advances in production techniques (pruning and more), storage, drying and marketing; in addition to continuous training and a thorough work in organic and agroecological care.

"El Ceibo" is a cooperative that was founded in 1977 with the aim of breaking the monopoly on transport and trade through intermediary companies. It currently has more than 850 members who grow cocoa on small plots of land of no more than 12 hectares.

El Ceibo has become the best known and most respected cooperative in Bolivia. Shortly after its establishment, the cooperative members built a warehouse and a drying facility. This was followed by a simple factory for cocoa processing. It was the first time that farmers had processed their production themselves. Today, El Ceibo produces cocoa powder, cocoa butter and even chocolate.

The benefits and services offered by the cooperative to its members are: transport, technical training, university education, business loans, research, etc.

Mitra Abadi translates as "partner forever", and this is the basis of PMA. They have strong links with local farmers and producers with the aim of expanding the treasures of Indonesia's rich soil to the global market. They implement new planting methods, which in turn create quality crops, resulting in delicious end products.

PMA's coconut sugar is known for its sweet and caramelised taste and contains iron, zinc, potassium, antioxidants, dietary fibre and a lower glycaemic index, unlike traditional sugar.

Although it has only recently become popular in the West, coconut sugar has been used in Southeast Asia as a sweetener for millennia. It is produced from the sap of the flowers of the coconut palm, which grow abundantly in tropical climates. It is cultivated using traditional methods and processed by local people without the addition of any artificial additives or preservatives, as has been done for generations.

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The Manduvirá Cooperative was founded in 1975 and is located in the village of Arroyos y Esteros in southwestern Paraguay. Life for the farmers is hard, as the region is remote and isolated and the crops are small, as are the profits. The pieces of land they own are constantly being divided into smaller and smaller portions, as families try to leave each of their sons and daughters at least one piece of land.

Thanks to the support of Fairtrade, the Manduvirá Cooperative not only has the possibility to face the challenge of getting its own organic certification, renting a factory and producing its own organic sugar, but also to establish long-term partnerships with international clientele, conquering markets with its brand (distinguished as a high quality brand). In addition, there are many other benefits for the members, their children and the whole community, such as the financing of the cooperative's projects in education, health or organic farming.

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ASOCACE was created in 2003 to represent the interests of the sugar cane producers before the sugar factory and to offer social and productive services to its members, such as the construction of a school, medical care or the repair of roads, bridges, etc., the provision of credit and savings (national banks are not reliable), or the collection of the product to sell it collectively and thus obtain a better price. Today it has more than 200 people.

Fairtrade is a potential addition, as it is not easy to raise funds for investments and projects. The Fairtrade Premium is the only source of capital on which cooperatives can work. Some of the projects developed with the Fairtrade Premium have been: the improvement of infrastructure (roads and bridge repairs), the improvement of the cooperative's equipment (a tractor that can be rented by members at a very low cost) and the possibility to offer them micro-credits.

This organisation is located on the island of Panay, and is made up of some 30 families who use agriculture to grow sugar cane and the products they need for their own food.

Through the export of Fair Trade products, they are obtaining resources that allow them to gradually resolve the difficulties faced by their productive activity, such as: the lack of electricity, the use of obsolete machinery, transport difficulties, etc.

They have also made investments that improve the living conditions of the entire community, such as the construction of a day-care centre.

Production is carried out in accordance with the criteria of organic farming, using earthworm excrement as fertiliser. From the sugar cane they produce the whole cane sugar called Mascobado, which contains no chemical additives, so that the taste is preserved intact. Almost the entire production is currently exported.

The Fair Trade organisation Panay (PFTC) in the Philippine Islands was founded with the aim of improving the position of women in Philippine society, and works to defend the interests of small farmers and women living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the cities. Sugar cane is the main source of income for many Filipino families.

PFTC defends the traditional methods of cane sugar production, as well as giving commercial and technical support to small producers, and stands out for its social and political commitment.

Because Mascobado sugar is traded through Fair Trade channels, small-scale farmers in the Philippines receive higher profits than conventional trade, which allows them to have decent working conditions, with an assured, fair and regular income. They have also changed the type of production to organic (e.g. using their own compost instead of chemical and synthetic fertilisers for their fields).

The Pakta Mintalay Association was founded on 24 September 2010 to support and participate in the equitable marketing of food and handicraft products of small producers from the countryside and marginal urban neighbourhoods of Ecuador.

Pakta Mintalay, which in Quechua means "trade with equity", preferably markets products with organic certification: panela, mushrooms, cocoa, coffee, quinoa... This marketing is carried out according to Fair Trade criteria, ensuring that the impact caused by the marketing is reflected in the improvement of the living conditions of the families participating in the production chain and the strengthening of the organisation, based on the principles of fair trade.

The farmers' association "Cumbres de Ingapi" is located in the province of Pichincha, northwest of Quito (Ecuador). The climate is subtropical and the altitude reaches 1,200 metres. It was founded in 2003 and is made up of about 50 families. They are small farmers whose main crop is sugar cane, although they also grow other products for their own consumption and for local sale, such as yucca, maize, bananas, lemons and other fruits.

Each family has on average between 2.5 and 3 hectares of land. The sugar cane is harvested throughout the year, avoiding the rainy season. Today, thanks to Fair Trade, the producers have managed to escape from marginalisation and poverty. They have been able to improve their living conditions and those of their families, for example by having access to education for their children, technical training for the members and also by being able to invest in improvements in production.

The El Paraíso Cooperative is made up of twenty members from the Province of Pichincha (Ecuador). Each member owns a small sugar cane plantation and the necessary machinery for the extraction of panela. Each of these plantations is managed autonomously by each family of the cooperative, which also hires local labour, who are paid a fair wage, thus generating employment and improving the standard of living of these families.

The profits from sales made under Fairtrade standards, in addition to paying higher wages to the workers, are used to finance the community school and equip and maintain a dental centre. It has also managed to obtain organic farming certification for the sugar that comes from the cooperative's sugar cane plantations, as well as plans for continuous improvement in product quality and ongoing training for workers.