For us, there can be no greater challenge, than that of fighting for the right to work, the dignity of earning a livelihood and providing for our families and contributing to the development of our communities and by extension our countries, these Windward Islands. By assuming responsibility for the banana industry, WINFA and Fairtrade have given us this opportunity.
Marcella Harris
President of WINFA (Windward Islands Farmers Association)
It's 15 years since the first Fairtrade chocolate, coffee and tea appeared on shop shelves.
We're a gangly teenager, growing everyday but still holding massive potential. We have also proved the naysayers wrong. Fairtrade is working. It works for the millions of farmers and workers and their communities in the developing world who can sell their crops as Fairtrade and for whom Fairtrade is building an architecture of hope, showing that trade can be managed differently.
Because it works for producers, it also works for UK shoppers, seven out of ten of whom bought goods carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark last year. And because it works for farmers and shoppers, it works for business too.
We still have a mountain to climb if we are to tip the balance of trade in favour of poor producers, but our unique alliance of supporters is slowly moving forward through the power of a million small steps. Sometimes we leap forward - as when the banana farmers in the Windward Islands took control of their supply chain, or when a Palestinian olive farmer glows with pride on seeing his oil on the shop shelf for the first time. When you see the farmers taking their business back into their own hands, against all the odds, then you really know that Fairtrade is indeed working.
As Renwick Rose from Windward Islands Farmers Association said of their achievement 'For years farmers were considered as the proverbial "hewers of wood and drawers of water", producing to the dictates and for the benefits of others. They were thought to be incapable of managing their own business. The transition to farmer control has demonstrated beyond the shadow of doubt that farmers can do it for themselves.'
Harriet Lamb
Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation
Farmers and workers in 56 countries sell Fairtrade certified products to the UK
Windward Islands banana farmers take control
The banana industry in the Windward Islands was developed to supply the UK in the 1950s.
Since then nearly all bananas have been produced by small-scale farmers, who by law sold to banana companies in the islands, who sold them to the exporter. The banana companies, who also provided various agricultural services, took a substantial profit at the expense of the aggrieved farmers, who were powerless to change the situation.
When the farmers came together in 2000 and began to engage with Fairtrade, their status and influence was boosted. Changes in Fairtrade Labelling Organisation’s certification system and also to banana legislation on the islands paved the way for the farmers’ group to take over the role of the banana companies in managing the banana supply chain up to export.
This process was crucially underpinned by the decision of farmers to use their Fairtrade premium to fund the resulting legal battle and transition process.
As a result, new staff were hired and trained in the islands, and payment and pest control departments created.
Farmers now have a clear understanding of the banana industry and a stronger, more open relationship with the exporter.
They are now in a better position to increase their income than before, empowering them in their communities and nationwide.