Sir Steve Redgrave’s new menswear range, FiveG, is made from Fairtrade certified cotton. Read his diary from his visit to Mali to see how Fairtrade works on the ground.
Mali factfile:
- average income per head is around 60 pence per day
- Mali ranks 175 out of 177 least developed countries
- three-quarters of the country’s four million workers are employed in farming
- cotton accounts for a quarter of Mali’s exports
Day 1
After a three-hour drive from the capital, Bamako, we arrive in the in the Kita district of southern Mali. It’s harvest time and the farmers are out in the fields. Cotton is the only cash crop in the area and the farmers also grow millet, sorghum, maize and peanuts in rotation with it to protect soil fertility. Soloba Mady Keita explains to me that the farmers in these fields are members of UC-CPC de Djidian ‘Danaya Ton’, a Fairtrade certified co-operative, which receives the guaranteed Fairtrade minimum price. This is a higher price than they can get on the world market and is calculated to cover their production and living costs. An additional premium is also distributed to the producer co-operatives to invest in community development projects.
I introduce myself to some of the farmers and have a go at picking the cotton, which involves plucking out the soft cotton balls from the bristly stems and collecting them in a sack round your middle. It seems pretty easy at first, but after a while you realise how laborious it is. Many of the women pick with their babies on their back, which isn’t ideal, but they explain to me that using the Fairtrade premium, they plan to set up a nursery to look after the babies during the day.
Day 2
Walking through the village of Dougourakoroni, I’m introduced to cotton farmer Awa Souko and her five children. As a member of the local Fairtrade cooperative, Awa explains that her children attend the new village school built with the Fairtrade premium in 2005. Before the children had to walk more than 10 kilometres to school, so fewer than 15 attended. Now there are 100 pupils. With Awa’s extra income from Fairtrade cotton, she has been able to buy four cows. ‘We have milk from the cows and I can also buy clothes and soap,’ she tells me. After a quick football kick around with her children I am shown lots of grain stores under construction as well as a health unit with maternity facilities in a nearby village. Everyone is really excited about and proud of the health unit. Once they receive the Fairtrade premium for this year’s harvest they will be able to finish the building. It will mean expectant mothers and babies can be treated here in the village, rather than having to make the dangerously long journey of 15 kilometres to the nearest town.
When the farmers have collected their cotton, it’s taken by donkey cart to a storage area where it is kept dry before it is taken to the ginning factory at a later date. There, it is separated into cotton fibre (or lint) and cotton seeds, which are used for oil or fodder.
Day 3
On my last day we drive to another village called Batimakana where I’m shown environmental projects and cereal storage buildings. Storage of crops is very important and the farmers have spent part of the Fairtrade premium on building separate storage units for their other harvested crops such as grain, millet and maize.
Being able to store them securely means they can sell the crops in the local markets at a later date when they can get the best price.
Conclusions
It’s the end of my trip. Seeing Fairtrade at a village level, it’s clear to me that farmers can begin to build a better future for themselves. Our choices really can help them bring about positive change. We can see how life is generally so much better for the farmers now, and they’ve only been in the Fairtrade system for a few years. The future can only get better for them.
©Summer 2008 Fair Comment