The Chief Executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, Michael Gidney, will visit Oxford Town Hall on 16 January to deliver a talk on his vision for the future of Fairtrade and the challenges presented in.
Mr Gidney will speak at the Oxford Fairtrade Coalition annual general meeting and will update the audience on major new initiatives, including support for Cadbury’s in-house Cocoa Life Scheme. He will also discuss the role he envisages being played by Fairtrade towns, colleges, schools and faith groups as Fairtrade moves forward.
Mr Gidney said: “By 2020, we want to see a world where farmers and workers have a greater share of the value from the products they produce, earning a living income or living wage that provides them with a sustainable, dignified livelihood. We want to see a world where agricultural production is globally recognised, where women and men are empowered to speak out and farmers are able to deal with the devastating effects of climate change.”
The Lord Mayor of Oxford, Councillor Mohammed Altaf-Khan added: “Both I and the City Council fully support Oxford’s Fairtrade initiative. We look forward to welcoming Michael Gidney to our city to discuss what local residents and businesses can do to support and empower Fairtrade farmers across the world.”
The Fairtrade Foundation is increasing its investment in business innovation between 2016 and 2020 and is creating a portfolio of new ways of working with businesses, structured around the benefits they bring to farmers and workers.
The next five years will see a targeted ramping up of Fairtrade Foundation support for cocoa, coffee, banana, tea and flower producers to create a lasting sustainable impact.
There are 1,226 Fairtrade certified producer organisations in 74 countries, involving more than 1.65 million farmers and workers. In 2015, there were £1.67 billion of UK retails sales of Fairtrade products.
Details of the event can be found at https://oxfairtrade.wordpress.com/
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