Fair Trade

From September 10-12, 2010, the Fair Trade Futures Conference will bring together entrepreneurs, students, advocates, faith community members, concerned citizens, interested individuals, and others in Boston, MA for the largest Fair Trade event in North American history!

The event will include seminars, workshops, site visits, discussions, social activities, and an exposition of 50+ Fair Trade vendors to educate and inspire about the holistic approach to business and pov

Muenda Fair Trade has been proud to support Global Mamas for 4 years now. Global Mamas is a non-profit and fair trade organization assisting women in Ghana, Africa to become economically independent. This organization also has a sister organization 'Women in Progress' that is an international volunteer organization that operates in Ghana.

I remember learning about the Human Development Index (HDI) during my African studies. Limitations were highlighted of how measuring the GDP of a country does not quantify the ‘healthy development' of a country and its citizens. I came across an article today that sheds more light on this topic and wanted to share it.

This article caught my eye as it falls into place alongside the current book I am reading "Fair Trade for All' by Joseph Stiglitz and Andrew Charleston. This book sets out the framework of how fairer trade rules  can promote development in the world's poorest countries. A must read for those involved with fair trade at the economic level.

Firstly, read on:

I remember the first campaign to raise awareness of Aids while at school in England. General public opinion back then was that only gay and lesbian people were at risk, and that it could be caught by having contact just like a handshake with an infected person. Thankfully, a very bold and couragous woman, Princess Diana helped ease the nation when captured tenderly holding an infected HIV baby.
20 years later HIV/Aids is still claiming lives every minute of every day.
Despite great moves forward into understanding this deadly disease, there is yet no cure to Aids.

On behalf of our artists, thank you. Your Fair Trade purchases this holiday season are helping fight global poverty.

When you buy Fair Trade gifts you are a part of a growing trend towards equal and sustainable trading relationships. Muenda Fair Trade works with impoverished communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

About muenda.com

On October 23rd this year Bono (supporter of the One Campaign) spoke at the California Women's Conference and passed along some startling Statistics (listed below) about women in Africa.

• Nearly two-thirds of adults with HIV in Africa are women. Young women (age 15 to 24) in South Africa accounted for around 90% of new  infections in 2007.

• In Africa, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth is 1 in 20 (compared to 1 in 2,800 in the US).

Fair Trade allows us all to work at a local level to help empower farmers and artisans to lift themselves out of poverty.

While investing in their farms and communities while protecting the environment, these businesses learn the skills necessary to compete sustainably in the global marketplace.

Although many more individuals that I meet have now heard of Fair Trade and at least seem to get a basic grasp of the guiding principles, many more still ask me how do i know that the producers and farmers are paid fairly? I want to bring to light fairly accurate information about Fair Trade Standards and Pricing that i found on line with Wikipedia. It seems to have a fairly rounded range of information on Fair Trade. There is also access to some Fair Trade Impact Studies for those who want to delve deeper.