| Ask
the producers what they think of Fair Trade |
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In the Kumasi area of Ghana, a collection of farmers have
banded together to form a co-operative. Their name is Kuapa Kokoo. This means ‘good
cocoa farmer’. Today there are 250 village societies involving around 63,000 people
in selling cocoa through Kuapa Kokoo.
They sell some of their cocoa to Fair Trade organisations.
This means that they can get more money for their cocoa. This extra money goes to make
farms better or to help schools and health-workers.
This is what they have to say about Fair Trade.
Anna Antwi
"The Fair Trade premium has been and still is crucial
for Kuapa Kokoo’s development. If we get more premium, we can get more community
projects up and running. The whole community will benefit."
Chief of Niveneso Village, Mana Osei
Yawu III
"Before we were involved with Kuapa Kokoo we had no
water in the village, we just had dirty water from rivers and streams. People spent a lot
of time collecting water and there was always someone who was sick.
"At first we didn’t understand the principles of
Fair Trade. But once some of us joined Kuapa Kokoo and we saw that they paid us a fair
price, and on time, more people in the community wanted to join the co-operative. Even
young people who were going to leave the village because they thought there was no future
in cocoa farming are now staying. We are very grateful for Fair Trade.
"We have just got our first well and now we want to
make other improvements in the community. Getting water has always been a huge problem.
It’s one of the essential things that mankind needs to stay alive. Air is freely
available, but clean water is harder to get. Many people in the village were wondering how
much longer they could stay in the village without water, because they were getting sick.
The money we used to get from selling our cocoa beans to the government didn’t give
us enough to buy materials or a pump for our own water supply. Thanks to Fair Trade, we
have more money, no illness, and we are growing more cocoa."
Alex Bediako, 13 years
"I would have left the village to look for work in the
town, but now we have water I am going to stay. When I finish school, I may go to Kumasi
(the nearest big town) to learn a trade, but I will then come back to my village."
Issac Appiah, 14yrs
"If the water wasn’t here, I would have left the
village. Life was too difficult without water. I want to be a cocoa farmer; cocoa is an
investment for the future, so it is good that I can now stay here."
Joseph Dankor
"Because we didn’t have water, we weren’t
able to get teachers to stay here and work in the school. We sometimes had to go as far as
9 miles away to find water, and even then it was so dirty we had to leave it to stand and
then boil it. There used to be a river near the town many years ago, but it dried
up."
Anna
Amponsa
"We women are the ‘caretakers’ of the water.
We had to walk for miles to find it. But the water we found was dirty and our children
were always getting sick from diseases like bilharzia and diahorrea. We wanted to leave
the village and find somewhere else to live.
"We have been selling our cocoa through Kuapa Kokoo
since they were formed six years ago. The money for the well and the pump came from the
Fair Trade premium. So Fair Trade paid for our clean water supply.
"As well as the premium which is used by the whole
community, each farmer who belongs to Kuapa Kokoo gets a bonus. The bonus comes at a time
when we need it most. When we are short of money, we can’t afford to buy food or
medicines when people are sick. Without the bonus, life would be very difficult."
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