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What Is Successful And Notable About The Kind Of Fair Trade Malawi Offers

By Lila Barry


Fair trade is a concept which has become increasingly popular over the last two decades, as it looks to help build a sustainable agricultural sector in the developing world. The fair trade Malawi based organisations are worth examining, as they look to help the farmers of that particular African nation. Small farmers here contibute almost 60 per cent of their country's agricultural GDP, which means they are a vital part of the nation's economy generally.

Small farmers here though are battling in the face of a number of different challenges which continue to make their task difficult though. One challenge is a lack of technical agricultural knowledge, which often hampers the way farms can grow. Unreliable access to fair markets is another massive challenge for the farmers, as it limits the sustainability of their business.

Being unable to access decent markets has all kinds of consequences for small farmers in this part of Africa. It helps to create food insecurity, which contributes directly to poor health in the farmers' families. Being unable to generate enough income also renders access to social services and healthcare, as well as education, so a spiral of deprivation ensues.

The government of Malawi continues to fight a noble and relatively successful battle against hunger and the ongoing food insecurity much of its population endures, but more support is required. This is why fairtrade organisations in Malawi continue to work with farmers to help them better manage output and the quality of that output. The wider economy of the country, both its agricultural sector and more widely, are strengthened as a result.

Fair trade organisations look to help the farmers in this particular part of Africa address these challenges. One way of doing this is to open up access to markets for small farmers, helping to stimulate demand for their products. They look to build more direct links between farmers and potential customers, which helps to create a more personal sense of involvement, with the relationships allowing a more robust and resilient business plan to develop.

As a result of this work, farmers can make their farms sustainable financially, which adds greater security to their lives overall. Fairtrade organisations began working in Malawi in 1998, and since that date nine organisations have sprung up, all across the country. They work with around 20,000 farmers and other agricultural workers.

Groundnuts are a central crop for many Malawian farmers, while coffee and tea growing are also common. Sugar is also commonly grown in this part of Africa, and fairtrade organisations work hard to develop markets for it and the other crops grown here. Creating additional demand for the products is vital, as that allows the farmers access to greater amounts of resources with which they can improve their farms.

It can be seen that the kind of practises involving fair trade Malawi organisations offer is considerably helping in the fight against food insecurity in the region. In the years since this type of work was begun, 1998, many organisations have sprung up across the country, and continue their work with farmers. If farmers continue to receive this kind of targeted support, then the battle against hunger may one day be won.




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