3 Apr 2017

Celebrate Your Support for Fairtrade In This Year’s World Fairtrade Challenge!

The World Fairtrade Challenge is back and this year we are celebrating Fairtrade’s successes over the past three decades! After last year's hugely successful inaugural event, this year we’re calling on people all around the world to showcase their support for Fairtrade by having a Fairtrade Celebration!

World Fairtrade Challenge poster

The ‘Celebrate Fairtrade’ challenge, which runs from May 12th-14th 2017, aims to mobilize Fairtrade supporters, farmers and workers in the biggest Fairtrade Celebration ever.

The Fairtrade movement has come a long way since the first Fairtrade certified coffee was launched in the Netherlands in 1988. Almost 30 years later, more than 35,000 Fairtrade products are being sold worldwide and over 1,6 million Fairtrade farmers and workers benefit from Fairtrade sales.

Thanks to you, the Fairtrade Premium earned by Fairtrade farmers and workers rose significantly to 138 million Euros in 2015 – up a massive 30 percent from the previous year. The Fairtrade Premium has been invested in building stronger farming organizations and improving crop productivity, and in providing better education, healthcare and housing, among others.

“The Fairtrade movement should feel proud of its achievements and the World Fair Trade Day is a good time to celebrate. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that we still have a long way to go to empower the world’s poorest farmers and rural workers”.

“Some producers have yet to sell more than 30 percent of their products on Fairtrade terms. So we need to continue raising awareness among consumers, policymakers and community groups about the benefits of Fairtrade in order to boost our impact”.

“The World Fairtrade Challenge offers a unique opportunity to do precisely this and so I invite everybody to join us in this great celebration!”, said Darío Soto Abril, Global CEO at Fairtrade International.

The World Fairtrade Challenge 2017 aims to tap into the creativity of all citizens and community groups around the world.

Celebrations can range from treating your colleagues, friends or customers to Fairtrade products or you can register your purchase or host an event at home, in your workplace, or even your community centre or church. All celebrations are welcome so long as the focus is on promoting Fairtrade products and the people who are producing them.

“I would like to encourage all Fairtrade supporters, farmers and workers to participate in this year's World Fairtrade Challenge and to celebrate Fairtrade's successes, while reminding ourselves that we still have a long way to ensure that farmers and workers around the world can benefit from fairer terms of trade” stated Albeiro Alfonso Cantillo, a small-scale Fairtrade banana farmer from Cienaga, from the banana growing region of Magdalena in northern Colombia.

To find out more about this year’s World Fairtrade Challenge 2017, please visit the website: https://www.fairtradechallenge.org. You will find plenty of ideas and materials for organizing events as well as information about Fairtrade and its benefits for small-scale farmers and workers.