For two weeks each year at the end of February and start of March to highlight Fairtrade Fortnight. Thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people who grow our food and drinks. mine our gold and who grow the cotton in our clothes, people who are often exploited and underpaid.
In 2021, Fairtrade Fortnight will feel very different. 2020 has been a hard year for everyone and we know that physically campaigning and meeting people will continue to be challenging in 2021 but we have also heard from so many of you that you want to continue to support Fairtrade through this time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us more than ever how interconnected we are globally. This interconnection is at the very heart of the Fairtrade message and is where your role begins. You can be part of the Fairtrade movement, and you have the power to drive long-term change, not only with your shopping choices but with your support in spreading the message.
We just have to do this a little differently in 2021!
Choose The World Your Want…
In Fairtrade Fortnight 2021, will highlight the growing challenges that climate change brings to farmers and workers in the communities Fairtrade works with. The facts are straightforward. Farmers and workers in countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Honduras, who have done the least to contribute to climate change, are disproportionately affected by it.
They have said that:
• Climate change is one of their biggest challenges right now.
• Low prices for their crops mean that they are struggling to fight back.
• Only with more money will they feel equipped to meet their everyday needs and deal with the challenges they face from climate change.
The climate crisis is an immediate and ever-increasing threat and those in climate vulnerable countries are already seeing its impacts from droughts and crop disease to floods, heatwaves and shrinking harvests.
With the emergence of the global COVID pandemic, the challenges that farmers face now are bigger than ever before with falling commodity prices and widespread shocks reverberating along our global supply chains. Ongoing poverty in farming communities makes it increasingly hard to cope with the effects of climate change.
Climate, Fairtrade & You…
Fairtrade works to raise the voices of farmers and workers and prioritise what they need to respond to the environmental crises unfolding in already vulnerable communities.
This Fortnight, we are asking you to ‘Choose the World You Want’ and use your voice to tell others about the challenges that farmers face from climate change.
For more information view the Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 website.
