Oxfam is calling on local authorities to buy Fairtrade tea and coffee. Speaking at a Fairtrade exhibition which opened in Enfo, in St Andrew's Street, Dublin, yesterday Mr Raymond Kimaro, general manager of the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union, Moshi, Tanzania, said an average coffee farmer in his region produces two 100 kg bags of coffee each year.
A bag fetches less than US$100 on the open market but. Fairtrade pays a minimum of $126 per bag. Mr Kimara said this made an enormous difference to the local farmer.
Ms Sharmin Sultana, Oxfam's programme assistant for Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan, said the six principles of Fairtrade are fair wages, participation in the decision-making process, safe working conditions, protection of the natural environment, positive participation for women and protection against child labour.