Be The Change – Fair Trade, sustainability & a new economy for trade & climate justice

Our annual Fair Trade Campaigner Conference took place on Saturday 14 September in Paisley. We were delighted to be joined by so many campaigners and supporters of Fair Trade, and we would like to thank everyone involved in the success of the event. 

This year, our conference focused on Fair Trade and sustainability. We covered the climate crisis and the injustice facing farmers such as Howard Msukwa who we were delighted to hear from, and Fair Trade’s success as an alternative to exploitative global trade, Scotland’s position in relation to the wellbeing economy, the importance of environmental protection and action in sustainable farming and food production whether local or global. And the power of grassroots movements such as ours. We also had some practical actions to take away with us.

And of course, it’s Fairtrade Fortnight (until 22 September) so these actions will support us all in continuing to or starting out to BE THE CHANGE – this year’s campaign focus.

Our programme started with a welcome from Renfrewshire Council’s Pauline Moss who also brought along the beautiful Fairtrade artworks from Renfrewshire schools displayed around the room. We were then inspired by Kat Jones, from Action to Protect Rural Scotland (and previously Stop Climate Chaos Scotland). Kat touched on topics such as the climate crisis, net zero, Fair Trade resetting the balance, and the power of grassroots campaigning. Louise Davies of Scotland’s International Development Alliance picked up where Kat left off and brought us up to speed on policies for people and planet and the need for a global justice approach to the economy. As we’re being asked to Be The Change during this Fairtrade Fortnight, Louise gave us some practical actions we can take to support the wellbeing economy movement, sustainability, and global trade justice in Scotland. 

We were then joined by Howard Msukwa, Kilombero Rice farmer, and member of Kaporo Smallholder Farmer Association, Malawi. Claire Sloan of Ardross Farm in Fife joined Howard in a discussion facilitated by Tabitha Nyariki, trustee of Scottish Fair Trade. We really enjoyed hearing about some shared experiences and building solidarity between farmers who are committed to sustainable and ethical practices, along with the wellbeing of their local economies and communities. 

We then stopped for a lovely lunch from Locavore.  A big thank you to our volunteers who ran the catering. Lunchtime was a great opportunity to support our Fair Trade retailers and of course, get ahead with Christmas shopping! We were joined by One World Shop, True Origin, Scotmid, Co-op, Bala Sport, Gavin’s Mill, the Alternative Coffee Co., Hadeel and Yho!Yho!.

How do we take the messages from the conference back to our own Fair Trade groups, businesses and wider communities? Our afternoon session guided us through an activity to do just that. We worked on action plans to communicate key messages heard during the morning session with our Fair Trade groups, communities and the wider public. 

We then had some reflections on our day from Colum Scriven of Rainbow Turtle and Mary Popple of True Origin. It was great to finish on such a hopeful note. And Martin Rhodes closed our Fair Trade Campaigner Conference 2024 and urged us to continue to campaign for change. 

Our hope was to inspire you to continue to Be The Change by focusing this year on Fair Trade’s strong position as a model of a sustainable alternative to the status quo. Feedback so far suggests our attendees got a lot from this year’s Campaigner Conference.

Many campaigners then moved on to True Origin’s warehouse for a visit, tour, chance to meet with trustees, and to taste delicious jams, chutneys and more. 

Thank you to everyone for coming along this year. A huge thank you to all of our speakers, our facilitators, our photographer, our caterers, our venue, and particularly to Howard for being with us today and to True Origin for their organisation in hosting Howard’s visit, allowing him to be with us, and for preparing a tour of their warehouse. Thank you to Scotmid for their generous donation to our drinks’ reception.

Find:

• Pauline Moss’s welcome
• Kat Jones’ talk here
• Louise Davies’ presentation
• Howard Msukwa and Claire Sloan in conversation will follow
• Ask your MSP to place wellbeing at the heart of decision making in Scotland
• Ask your MP to Be The Change
• Find Kilombero Rice and more at True Origin