Fairtrade Fortnight: What is it?

What Is Fairtrade Fortnight?

This year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is from Monday 21^st  February to Sunday 6^th March. This two-week event provides an opportunity for individuals, companies, and organizations to celebrate farmers and food producers from around the world, as well as encourage the general public to help them with their efforts.

The focus for this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight is Climate Change. In light of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held last year in Glasgow, Fairtrade members and campaigners wanted to reiterate and stress the fact that climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing international agriculture and farming. For instance, droughts and floods have led to crop failure and shrinking harvests, which has meant lower food output and income for farmers.

The History Of Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight was established in 1997 by Lady Marion Fraser who was chairwoman of Christian Aid at the time. To launch the event’s first celebration, Lady Marion broke a bar of Fairtrade chocolate. Since then, it’s been highly successful and celebrated all over the world in countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Why Fairtrade Is Important?

Fairtrade :

• Campaigns and creates safe working conditions for farmers and workers
• Offers funding for business and community development for farming communities
• Works to provide education, health care, supplies and tools for farmers in developing countries
• Ensures the protection of fair prices, living wages and quality of life for farmers, workers and their families in developing countries

How To Get Involved

During the Fortnight, Fairtrade challenges everyone to try and swap their shopping, purchasing Fairtrade products instead where they can.

A free virtual festival titled ‘Choose The World You Want’ will be held online on the Fairtrade Foundation’s website this year.

The festival will include :

• Music, art and workshops on sustainable living in the UK
• A talk on what can be done to ensure a better future for everyone and the environment
• Stories and testimonies from farmers and other workers on the impact of Fairtrade and climate change has had on their lives

Traidcraft, a sister charity to Fairtrade will also be hosting Q&As, cooking sessions using Fairtrade ingredients and competitions during the fortnight.

Young people are especially urged to write and send a message for the upcoming 2022 Fairtrade Youth Exhibition.

To see what the Fairtrade community get up to during the two weeks make sure to follow them on social media.