Dry fruit growers enjoy fruits of franchising with 'Fairtrade' movement

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Saad Hasan
KARACHI: Far away from commercial markets, thousands of feet above sea level in the mountainous Gilgit valley of northern Pakistan, dry fruit growers are getting a price for their produce that is helping them sustain not only themselves but their villages too.

Since a Pakistani company became the world’s first Fairtrade certified exporter of dry fruits, these natives from the underdeveloped region are getting a minimum guaranteed price for their products plus a premium for investing in social welfare projects.

“In 2000, a farmer was getting an average of Rs22.5 per kg for dry fruits,” said Sher Ghazi, CEO of Mountain Fruits Limited, on the eve of World Fairtrade Day on May 9. “Now the same farmer earns Rs110 per kg.”

This became possible after the tasty apricots, dried apples, almonds and organic walnuts from the Northern Areas started being sold in European markets in properly packaged boxes inscribed with Fairtrade mark.

The world fair trade movement, which encourages consumers in developed countries to pay a little higher price for Fairtrade marked products, has started benefiting the locals, says Ghazi.

“Villagers have used the premium pool to build a vocational training facility for women, a kindergarten school and water tanks,” he said, adding growers are getting a premium of up to Rs28 per kg on certain products.

Lack of infrastructure like roads and cold storages have long stopped growers from Gilgit and surrounding areas to reap the fruits of their work. Moreover, traditional practices were too outdated to maintain fruit quality standards prevalent in other countries.

Mountain Fruits, which was originally part of a welfare project of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, has also set up a factory in Gilgit to properly process dried fruits.

Affiliation with Fairtrade ensures welfare of around 1,200 growers on contract and 90 women working in the factory, says Ghazi. “Being part of Fairtrade, we have to pay our workers minimum monthly salary of Rs6,000.”

Growing awareness of Fairtrade among shoppers has started pushing firms to be more accountable in dealing with producers in developing countries, said a global survey released by Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International (FLO) on Friday.

This is all the more important in case of Pakistan where workers’ rights are often exploited with impunity in the manufacturing sector, industry people said.

Vision Technologies, a Sialkot-based maker of sports goods, has been using the Fairtrade mark on its footballs since 2005. “Fairtrade has helped increase our revenue,” says Malik Jameel, a general manager at the company. “What really matters is the international recognition of our football stitchers who are getting a fair price for their hard work.”

Regrettably, the government has not taken any step to encourage manufacturers and food companies to avail of benefits of Fairtrade labeling, which could help increase desperately needed share of Pakistani products in international markets.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=176645