http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/index.htm Meet Nioka, one of the

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http//www.fairtrade.org.uk/index.htm
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Meet Nioka, one of the Windward Islands banana
farmers. Nioka is 43 years of age, a single mum
with four sons. She loves cooking, while her
sons love playing football.
Bananas are my livelihood Nioka is 1 of 605
small farmers, many of whom are women, who are
registered with, The Windward Islands Farmers
Assossciation.
How can she afford to buy her land? Nioka rents
her two acre plot of land from the Government.
She has been a banana farmer for 13 years, the
last 2 she has been selling to the Fairtrade
Market. Being a banana farmer is a very demanding
and tedious job, but it gives Nioka a sense of
independence and a way of earning a living. She
does have help from her three eldest sons.
Without her business she would have no hope for
the future.
A Long Day! Nioka starts her day at dawn, by
getting breakfast ready for both her and her 4
boys. At 6am she sets to work, she works on her
farm until 11am when she needs to prepare and
cook lunch for her family. After lunch it is
straight back to it until 5pm, super time.
Throughout the week she has to plant and tend to
the bananas, with Mondays and Tuesdays requiring
the crops to be picked. Once the bananas have
been harvested they have to be graded, washed and
packed ready to be exported to the UK.
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How Fairtrade helps. Before Fairtrade life for
Nioka and her family was very hard, hard to make
a decent living and to have any kind of social
life. Nioka believes that being a member of
Fairtrade has allowed her to get a fair price and
save more money. Using it to help pay for her
sons education and for her to enjoy some kind of
a social life.
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Have a look in your dictionary for the meaning of
fair and trade.
Fair
Trade
What do you think the term Fairtrade might mean?
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Fairtrade Products
More and more products are now carrying the
Fairtrade mark, they now have over 1,000!
On your next visit to the supermarket or a
restaurant or even your local café have a look to
see if you can spot any Fairtrade products being
sold. Remember this is the Fairtrade mark you
are looking for,
See if you can find some of the following
products,
cotton clothes
chocolate
coffee
other fresh and dried fruits
tea
bananas
juices
sugar
cakes
Can you add to the list?
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A Fairtrade Menu
You are opening a Fairtrade Restaurant in your
local town, you need to plan your menu so that
you are using as many Fairtrade products as you
can.
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What is Fairtrade?

• It gives farmers a better quality of life.

• It allows farmers to have a fair price for their
  products, so that they can pay their bills,
  support their families and invest in a
  better future.

• It allows them to have better working conditions.

• It gives them the right to join unions.

• Children are now able to go to school, instead
  of having to work on the farms.

www.fairtrade.org