A milestone for Africa as it has more than 410 fair trade producers

There are more than 410 fair trade-certified food-producing businesses, associations and coops in African agriculture involving hundreds of thousands of farmers. Fair trade promises better pay and working conditions for laborers.
In some of the harshest social, political and climactic conditions on Earth, fair trade farmers and laborers make food that is of the highest global standards.
Organic agriculture is meant to sustain the health of soils, ecosystems, biodiversity and people. It relies on local conditions rather than on external influences that sometimes have adverse effects. Organic agriculture combines traditional knowledge, innovation and modern science to benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved.
Organic agriculture is developing rapidly. It’s now practiced in more than 120 countries and almost half the organic farmers are in Africa, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Fair trade aims to help farmers and workers get a better deal, influencing socio-economic conditions along the value chain of certified products to the benefit of farmers and workers. These conditions include wage levels in hired labor companies such as plantations and factories.
“The duty to help workers materialize this right does not rest on employers alone,” says FairtradeAfrica. “The entire global value chain needs to play its part.”
Fair trade stimulates demand by organizing consumer campaigns to encourage buying of Fairtrade-certified products.
Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade based on a partnership between producers and consumers. It offers consumers a way to reduce poverty through their everyday shopping.
The Fairtrade label appears on food as a consumer guarantee that disadvantaged producers in developing countries are getting a better deal.
As a consumer you will pay higher prices for organic products. Products do not have to be organic to be fair trade but it seems a natural marriage in many cases. Fairtrade premiums are often used to train producers in organic and sustainable techniques such as composting and using recycled materials.
African fair trade practitioners are producing dried fruits, rooibos tea, coffee, cocoa, cotton, cut flowers, and commodities such as shea butter, among others.
                                                          Courtesy of : AFK Insider