Making ConnectionsA Fair Trade Unit Plan

Grades 9–12

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ContentsRESOURCE OVERVIEW..............................................................................................................3WHO'S IT FOR?............................................................................................................................4RESOURCES................................................................................................................................4WHY FAIR TRADE?.....................................................................................................................5WHY SCHOOLS?.........................................................................................................................5WHY FAIRTRADE CERTIFICATION?.........................................5CONCEPTUAL LESSON STRUCTURE.................................................6LESSONS OVERVIEW.................................................................................................................7LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES...8LESSON 2: SOCIAL ISSUES — VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE.....................................................................................................................................................12LESSON 3: WHERE DOES OUR FOOD COME FROM?....................19LESSON 4: SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES.....................................21LESSON 5: INTRODUCTION TO FAIR TRADE (MINIMUM PRICE + LABOUR ISSUES).......................................................................................................28LESSON 6: PROJECT RESEARCH..........................................................................................32LESSON 7: CO-OPERATIVES AND FAIRTRADE PREMIUMS....33LESSON 8: CHILDREN’S RIGHTS............................................................................................39LESSON 10: ENVIRONMENT....................................................................................................47LESSON 11: FAIR TRADE ADVOCACY IN CANADA..............................................................50LESSON 12: UNIT COMPLETION.............................................................................................51

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Overview Making Connections is designed for students and classrooms learning about global sustainability as it relates to community development, geography, international trade, business development and marketing.

Making Connections was developed as part of the Fair Trade Schools Program for students and teachers. The Program recognizes schools demonstrating strong commitment to fair trade among its administration, teachers, and students. It has a long-term vision for awareness and support of fair trade—and aims to provide resources to suit a range of educational goals.

Fair Trade School ProgramFair Trade Schools is a Program of Fairtrade Canada, managed in partnership with the Canadian Fair Trade Network (CFTN) and the Association québécoise du commerce équitable (AQCÉ). To learn more about the Fair Trade Schools Program, visit:

Fairtrade Canada: http://fairtrade.ca/en-ca/get-involved/in-your-community/fair-trade-schoolsCFTN: http://cftn.ca/fair-trade-school-programAQCÉ at info@assoquebecequitable.org

Fairtrade Canada is a national, nonprofit fair trade certification organization and the only Canadian member of Fairtrade International. In collaboration with its sister organizations around the world, it manages the internationally renowned and respected Fairtrade system. fairtrade.ca

The CFTN is a non-profit organization that works with civil society and industry stakeholders to advance awareness and support for fair trade in Canada. It supports collaboration and best practices within the fair trade movement to increase Canadian commitments to international social responsibility. cftn.ca

The AQCÉ is a non-profit organization with the goal to support its members that implement the fair trade values and principals in the province of Québec. assoquebecequitable.org

AcknowledgementsThe Fair Trade School Program would not be possible without the support of community partners across Canada.

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Who's it for?Making Connections is designed to fit curriculum requirements for grade 9–12 classrooms. Lesson topics include social studies, geography, community development, economics, business development, and marketing.

Through topics ranging from everyday products to international trade, classrooms will explore issues of poverty and human vulnerability in developing communities around the world. With the aid of teacher instruction and modeling, students will conduct their own independent research and evaluation of fair trade while exploring a human rights issue of their choosing.

ResourcesMaking Connections includes fully developed lesson plans, ideal for new teachers building their own repertoire of resources. All unit resources are made available in Microsoft Office documents (Word and PowerPoint), making it easy for more experienced teachers to customize, adapt, and integrate into existing units or other learning programs.

Included in the unit plan:

Detailed lesson plans PowerPoint presentations with embedded video links (resources require audio/visual

hardware and internet connection) Learner-focused classroom activities Printable handouts Links to further learning Additional learning activities Making Connections Research Project and supplementary resources

Making Connections Research ProjectThe unit-long research project features three culminating activities that emphasize independent research, reporting, and evaluation. Instructors will guide students through case study examples, providing students with the tools to conduct their own studies. Additional resources are available for classrooms requiring adaptation for assisted learning and evaluation.

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Why fair trade?Farmers and workers in developing countries who grow or make many of the products we buy are often in the weakest position to ensure their earnings are enough to meet their needs. When the prices or wages they receive aren’t enough, they are forced to make sacrifices that trap them and their communities in a cycle of poverty. This can happen even when the prices we pay are high, and it translates into insecure livelihoods, environmental degradation, and insufficient access to basic health and social services. In extreme cases it can lead to child labour, human trafficking, and other human rights abuses.

Fair trade seeks to address this by making the principles of fairness and decency mean something in the marketplace, largely by providing valuable information that helps us to make purchasing decisions that match our values. Buying Fairtrade certified products helps to ensure some of the most disadvantaged producers in the world have access to global markets, creating the means for long-term investment in environmental and labour standards and community development.

Why schools?Our education system offers the most comprehensive approach to educating the next generation of international thought leaders. It’s important the students of today learn how to effectively participate in our global community, as they’ll be the ones to shape the future of our world.

We’re connected to people and cultures through the products we buy. Understanding the origins of everyday products builds a richer understanding of the world we live in. For students and teachers, fair trade provides a valuable framework for exploring sustainability issues that affect us all.

Why Fairtrade certification?With so many claims to fairness and sustainability in the marketplace, third-party verification is an invaluable tool to ensure purchases actually do connect with these values.

The FAIRTRADE Mark represents the best known and most respected ethical certification system for social sustainability issues. It provides an easy and reliable way to know that products have met credible standards that are set and monitored following best practices, public input, and regular audits.

The Fairtrade system is also the only one in the world that is 50% owned by the very farmers and workers meant to benefit from it. This provides an additional level of assurance that the system will continue to have the positive impact it was designed to have.

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Conceptual Lesson Structure

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Lessons Overview

Lesson 1: Introduction to Global Human Rights Issues Introduction/ Assess current knowledge

(20min) Presentation/Unit-introduction (20min) Country profile project introduction (15min) Assign food Journal (10min)

Lesson 2: Social Issues -- Vulnerability and Resilience Needs vs. wants: Maslow’s hierarchy of

needs (30min) Presentation: key terms (20min) Assign newspaper reading/food journal

reminder (5min) Student work time (remainder)

Lesson 3: Where does our food come from? Case study: Newspaper study (40min) Project assignment #1: Media Studies

(10min) Teacher Modeling (10min)

Lesson 4: Supply Chain Issues Review concepts (5min) Supermarket supply chains (20min) Bananas: Who gets what activity (45min)

Lesson 5: Introduction to Fair Trade (Minimum Price and Labour Issues) Fair vs. unfair discussion (10min) Intro to fair trade presentation (30min) Mini-assignment #2 (10min)

Lesson 6: Project Research Independent student research

Lesson 7: Co-operatives and Fairtrade Premiums Review (10min) (Optional) What is a business? (25min) Presentation: What is a co-operative?

(20min) Co-operative Class Role Play (30min)

Lesson 8: Children’s rights Film: The Dark Side of Chocolate (70min)

Lesson 9: Women in Agriculture Women in Agriculture Presentation (40min) Article assignment

Lesson 10: Environment Banana case study (25min)

Lesson 11: Fair Trade Advocacy in Canada Presentation (25min)

Lesson 12: Project hand-in and Unit wrap Students submit final projects

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Lesson 1: Introduction to Global Human Rights Issues

Lesson Objective: Students will be able to discuss human rights issues within the context of “vulnerability”

and “resiliency” (based on the UN’s Human Development Report 2014: http://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-report)

Lesson:Introduction/ Assess current knowledge

20 mins

In groups have students brainstorm possible answers to one or more of the following questions (10 mins):

What does poverty mean to you? What does it look like? Where does it exist? Why does it exist? How do we measure it?

Have students write their answers and call upon groups to share their responses. (5-10 mins)

Presentation/Unit-introduction

20 mins

According the United Nations' 2015 Human Development Report:

"Those living in extreme poverty and deprivation are among the most vulnerable. More than 2.2 billion people are either near or living in multidimensional poverty. About 842 million suffer from chronic hunger.

According to income-based measures of poverty, 1.2 billion people live with $1.25 or less a day. However, the latest estimates of the UNDP Multidimensional Poverty Index reveal that almost 1.5 billion people in 91 developing countries are living in poverty with overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards. And although poverty is declining overall, almost 800 million people are at risk of falling back into poverty if setbacks occur."

What does this mean?

Key terms:

Human development: Enlarging people's critical choices and their ability to be educated, be healthy, have a reasonable standard of living and feel safe—and ensuring security of these elements. Removing barriers that hold people back in their freedom to act. Enabling the disadvantaged and excluded to realize their rights, to express their concerns openly, to be heard

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and to become active agents in shaping their destiny. Having the freedom to live a life that one values and to manage one's affairs adequately.

Threats to human development include: economic shock, rights violations, natural disasters, disease, conflict, and environmental hazards.

Systemic vulnerability: A complex whole of connected parts functioning together toward increasing the vulnerability of individuals or their communities.

Poverty: the state of being poor or wanting of the necessities of life, including access to health (child mortality, nutrition), education (years of school, children enrolled), and minimum standards of living (cooking fuel, toilet, water, electricity, floor, assets).

Causes of poverty lack of jobs inability to work—illness, family obligations poor working conditions

Symptoms of poverty can include:

In the home: selling assets (things we want or need) children not going to school postponing or neglecting necessary medical care

In the community: increase in crime, suicide, violence, drug abuse, and migration.

Key necessities to reducing poverty: access to social services, including education, health care,

water supply and sanitation, and public safety. social protection: unemployment insurance, pension

programs, labour standards

Country profile project introduction

15 min Students will select a country to research, report on, and present to the class. Students will aim to build an understanding of a developing country and the challenges it faces. Students will also evaluate the potential impact that fair trade could have in addressing the challenges the country faces.

Components include media studies on their country of choice profile information image collection final report presentation

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Provide students with a selection and overview of 4-6 different countries to profile. For an adapted version of the project, students may use the example profile presented by the teacher. Advanced students may incorporate a review of the UN's 2015 Human Development Report to synthesize and evaluate their research.

DUE END OF UNIT

STUDENTS TO SELECT COUNTRY/PRODUCT BY CLASS 3

ASSIGNMENT: Food Journal —Understanding where our food comes from

10 min+Class work time

Goals: Students understand the range of international sources for food. Students understand the interdependent nature of our food systems.

In class: have students write down all of the foods they have eaten in the last 3-5 days. For foods that contain multiple ingredients, have them try to write each individual food product (excluding additives).

At home: have students write down all of the foods they consume up until next class. Include individual food products for foods that contain multiple items (excluding additives). Begin thinking about where each food comes from (for discussion in next class).

DUE CLASS 3

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FOOD JOURNAL TEMPLATE

Date

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Other

Date

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Other

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Lesson 2: Social Issues—Vulnerability and Resilience

Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of needs versus wants with

respect to greater issues of poverty. Students will be able to prioritize needs and wants.

Lesson:Needs vs. wants: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

30 min

Define for students the difference between a need and a want.

Need: Something you can’t live without.Want: Something you would like to have but that is not entirely necessary for survival.

Individually or in pairs, have students write a list of needs and wants. Each student completes their own list. Have students compare their lists with others and add to their own lists. How do their lists differ between them? Are there certain things that you need that others only want? (10 min)

Distribute the “Needs versus Wants” handout (blank diagram). Have students assign their list of needs and wants to the diagram. Students will need to come up with their own categories to prioritize different needs versus wants. (15 min). Additionally:

Ensure students think beyond “items/things”. Offer suggestions like “family,” “knowledge,” “respect,” “happiness.” Do we need to be happy to survive? What happens when we don’t have happiness in our lives?

Ensure students consider the long-term nature of their evaluation (consider what you need versus want for the next 10, 20, 30+ years).

Ask students to consider their previous discussion on poverty: Are there different degrees/levels of poverty? What is the bare minimum that everyone should have access to? (Have students refer to their categories they came up with)

Presentation: Introduction to key terms

20 min

Key terms:

Right: What one is legally, morally, and/or politically entitled to possess. Something that everyone should have.

Privilege: a special benefit or advantage available only to a particular person or group of people

Social Issue: A problem that affects many people and cannot be

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solved by an individual. It may threaten people’s rights or provide certain people with excess privilege.

Human vulnerability: exposure to risk of eroding people's capabilities and choices. Risks in future deterioration in individual, community, and national circumstances and achievements.

Human resilience: ensuring people's choices are robust, now and in the future, and enabling people to cope and adjust to adverse events.

What factors make people more vulnerable? What factors make them more resilient?

Present Maslow’s Hierarchy (Official version). Have students compare their own. What makes people most vulnerable? What makes people most resilient? Note that Maslow developed this model in 1943 (before

iPhones, the Internet, computers. In fact, the world was in the midst of total war (World War II).

Abraham Maslow was an American who studied only exemplary people — studying only the healthiest 1% of college populations.

Compare student categories to Maslow’s. Key Point: It’s okay/good if student categories differ from Maslow’s.

Unit project connections: Ensure students understand that these terms should be used in their unit project.

Assign Newspaper clip reading

5 min

Students to read “'Coffee rust' threatens to worsen poverty, raise prices” and answer the following:

[Teachers may want to find current, up-to-date samples]

What social issues are identified in the news article? Who are the most vulnerable to these social issues? (Who is

affected the most?) Why are they the most vulnerable? What are the solutions suggested in the article? Do you think

these solutions will increase the resiliency of the people affected?

DUE NEXT CLASS

Reminders Remind students their food journal is due next class. As students complete this assignment, they should be thinking about what product and country they will research for their unit project.

Class work time

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Wants (1943)

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'Coffee rust' threatens to worsen poverty, raise prices Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press Published Sunday, May 18, 2014 8:50AM EDT Last Updated Sunday, May 18, 2014 10:02AM EDT

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to help Central American farmers fight a devastating coffee disease — and hold down the price of your morning cup.

At issue is a fungus called “coffee rust” that has caused more than $1 billion in damage across Latin American region. The fungus is especially deadly to Arabica coffee, the bean that makes up most high-end, specialty coffees.

Already, it is affecting the price of some of those coffees in the United States.

"We are concerned because we know coffee rust is already causing massive amounts of devastation," said Raj Shah, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

On Monday, he was expected to announce a $5 million partnership with Texas A&M University's World Coffee Research centre to try to eliminate the fungus.

But the government isn't doing this just to protect our $4 specialty coffees, as much as Americans love them. The chief concern is about the economic security of these small farms abroad. If farmers lose their jobs, it increases hunger and poverty in the region and contributes to violence and drug trafficking.

Washington estimates that production could be down anywhere from 15 per cent to 40 per cent in coming years, and that those losses could mean as many as 500,000 people could lose their jobs. Though some countries have brought the fungus under control, many of the poorer coffee-producing countries in Latin America don't see the rust problem getting better anytime soon.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica have all been hard hit.

Much of the blander, mass-produced coffee in this country comes from Asia and other regions. Most of the richer, more expensive coffees are from small, high altitude farms in Central America. Because the farms are smaller, farmers there often don't have enough money to buy the fungicides needed or lack the training to plant in ways that could avoid contamination.

The rust, called roya in Spanish, is a fungus that is highly contagious due to airborne fungal spores. It affects different varieties, but the Arabica beans are especially susceptible. Rainy weather worsens the problem.

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"We don't see an end in sight anytime soon," said Leonardo Lombardini of Texas A&M's World Coffee Research.

So far, major U.S. coffee companies have been able to find enough supply to avoid price increases. But some smaller outfits already have seen higher prices, said Ric Rhinehart of the Specialty Coffee Association of America.

Rhinehart said the worst-case scenario is that consumers eventually will pay "extraordinarily high prices for those coffees, if you can find them at all."

He said some very specialized varieties from a single origin — Guatemalan antigua coffees, for example -- have been much harder to source. If the problem continues, he says, some small coffee companies either will raise prices or use blends that are easier to find, decreasing the quality of the coffee.

Larger companies such as Starbucks and Keurig Green Mountain Inc. have multiple suppliers across the region and say they have so far been able to source enough coffee.

"It's a little bit too soon to tell what the impact will be on supply and long term quality over time," said Lindsey Bolger, who heads up coffee sourcing for Keurig Green Mountain.

Still, the companies are trying to ensure that their future supply isn't affected, so they are working closely with growers on better practices that will help them avoid contamination.

"Supporting the farmer's ability to access information, technology and resources allows them to adapt to these uncertainties and ensures the longevity of our industry's supply chain," said Craig Russell, Starbucks Global Coffee executive vice-president. Starbucks even bought a Costa Rican farm for research purposes.

USAID intends to work with Texas A&M to step up research on rust-resistant coffee varieties and help Latin America better monitor and respond to the fungus. The U.S. already collaborates with some of the coffee companies and other international organizations to finance replanting of different varieties of trees.

The effort is part of the Obama administration's Feed the Future program, which aims to rid the world of extreme poverty through agricultural development and improved nutrition.

While the effort has helped hungry children around the globe, "we're at risk of backtracking because of coffee rust," Shah says.

SOURCE: http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/coffee-rust-threatens-to-worsen-poverty-raise-prices-1.1827083#ixzz3JuVMzG8h

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Lesson 3: Where does our food come from?Lesson Objective:

Students will be able to discuss human rights within the context of a news article. Students will be able to relate their individual lives to those of others around the world

through the products they consume.

Lesson:Understanding where our food comes from review

15 min Students meet and discuss in groups (of 3-4) what products they consume. This exercise should aim to celebrate diversity in consumption as well as to identify commonalities.

Groups to report by writing on the board (avoid duplicating content). What were the most common foods consumed in each group?

Discussion. Teacher to select individual foods reported by students and ask: Where do these foods come from? How do they get to stores? Can we grow these foods in our backyard? Why or why not?

Key learning target: Some foods don’t grow in Canada. They require different climates.

Case study: Newspaper study

40 min Review news story (from Lesson 2)

Review key terms: Arabica, coffee rust (roya), economic security, drug

trafficking, fungicides.

Discuss homework questions with class: What issues are identified in the news article? Who are the most vulnerable to these social issues? (Who is

affected the most?) Why are they the most vulnerable? What are the solutions suggested in the article? Do you think

these solutions will increase the resiliency of the people affected?

Additional terms to discuss: rural: relating to country landscapes outside of the city urban: situated in a town or city agriculture: practice of cultivating land for crops and animals.

Project assignment #1: Media Studies

10 min Students should have selected a country/product for their unit project. This will be their first project assignment.

Students research 5-10 news stories on the country selected for

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their unit project. Students will collect URL links and paste them into a document that answers the following questions:

Based on the 5-10 news stories they find, have them answer the following questions:

How recent are the articles? Does it seem like this country gets much coverage?

Do the articles tell positive or negative stories? Are there common themes/issues discussed in each article?

What are they? (Make a list of key terms associated with these issues.)

Are there solutions presented in each article? If so, who is providing the solutions?

Is there any mention of fair trade? How often?

Teachers may want to recommend and/or assess students' abilities to identify proper international news sources such as: Globe and Mail CBC.ca BBC The Guardian New York Times

DUE CLASS 5

Teacher Modeling 10 min Teacher to review earlier news discussion within the context of the Newspaper research assignment.

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Lesson 4: Supply chain issues

Lesson Objective: Students will demonstrate understanding of how social issues in other countries can be

related to our own consumption practices.

Lesson:Review 5 min Products and where they come from. What are some products

that can't be grown in Canada?

Social issues. What is a social issue? What example did we look at last class (re: newspaper article review)? How was it a social issue?

Supermarkets and supply chain evaluation

20 min Collect flyers (or have students collect flyers) in the weeks leading up to this lesson.

Working in pairs, have students compare sale prices to regular prices.

OR

Have students find the 10 best deals in each flyer.

If a customer bought one of every sale item, how much would s/he save? What if everyone in the class took advantage of the sale? How much would the store “lose”? Every day stores have sales; does this mean that they are always losing money? Why not?

Where do supermarkets buy their products from? How do the prices they pay differ from those we pay in their stores?

Consider: Retail stores buy large volumes of products from few

sources. Buying in high volumes makes items much cheaper.

Retail stores must spend money to attract a broad range of customers who are looking for many different products.

Banana Activity: Who Gets What?

45 min Divide the class into 5 groups. Assign each a role within the banana supply chain: Worker/grower, Farm owner, Packing/exporting company, Importer/distributor, Supermarket. (Consider adding a 6th group: Consumer)

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Pre-discussion

Give each group a profile card and have them discuss as a group and then fill out each the following questions individually. Encourage students to have a sense of pride in their lives and their work.

Where do you live? What do you do for work? What does your workday look

like? What types of equipment do you require for your work? What's the best part of your day? What's the worst part of your day? What do you like to do in your spare time? How much money would you like to make in an 8-hour

day? How much money do you actually make in an 8-hour

day?

Main ActivityReorganize the class into groups that contain one of each role. Provide each group with a bag of 35 beans (or some other countable object). Explain that a banana costs about 35 cents in the supermarket. If each bean represents 1 cent, how much should each person in the group receive from the sale of each banana? Have each group divide the amount of beans among themselves according to who deserves what. Each group is responsible for recording their reasons.

Have each group report how they divided the money.

Share with the class what each role would actually receive. Provide summaries of average daily/annual income for each role. (Next class)

Summary of roles:

Banana WorkerWorking conditions: Works 12-14 hours per day of hard physical labour in hot

conditions. Selects the best bananas. Washes bananas — you have your hands in water all day. Cut bananas — you carry heavy loads of bananas on your

back. Applying fertilizers and pesticides — can lead to health risks

such as cancer and other diseases. Pesticides are also sprayed from planes — they are likely to fall on your home or the local school.

Concerns: Will you have enough money to buy food, pay medical bills

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and send your children to school? You will be discouraged from joining a trade union, meaning

you may not be allowed to meet with other workers to collectively negotiate your pay and working conditions.

Plantation OwnerWorking Conditions: Works most of the day in an office. Negotiates buying and selling of bananas and other

plantation costs. May supervise workers, but doesn’t do any heavy lifting.Concerns: Plantation running costs: You have to pay for expensive

pesticides, fuel for pesticide-spraying airplanes, tools, and machinery.

Cost of lawyers: You will need lawyers if your workers sue you for work accidents.

Waste: Regulations and shopper demand mean you must produce “perfect bananas” — meaning no marks on the skin, nice shape etc. This takes a lot of skill and money to achieve. If any of your bananas don’t meet these high standards they have to be scrapped — so you lose money.

Risk factor: You bear the cost if the harvest is bad, or a hurricane or pest destroys your crop.

Modernization investments: You need money to keep paying for the latest machines and ideas, so your plantation stays up to date and you stay in business.

ShipperWorking Conditions: Works in an office to manage operations of workers and

large ships. Maintains detailed schedules and product lists.Concerns: Ship costs: Big cargo ships are very expensive to buy and

keep in working order. Fuel: You need to pay for fuel — one load between Latin

America and Europe may be at sea for up to five weeks. Insurance: If a cargo is lost or damaged, it may be your fault

and you may have to pay for it. Refrigeration: On board, the bananas are kept in big fridges

to prevent them from ripening during the time at sea. If they ripen too soon they will be spoilt by the time they arrive at the shops.

Port fees: You will have to pay for your ships to be in port at both ends of the sea journey.

Shops and Supermarkets

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Working Conditions: Work in an office. Negotiate prices with importers. Keep detailed inventory lists.Concerns: Staff: You have to pay the people who work in your store.

They always want more money. Running costs: Lighting, transport, designing of staff

uniforms, carrier bags etc. Competition: You need to take on new ideas, maybe build a

bigger shop, buy new machinery to make sure you make more money than other shops and stay in business.

If the bananas are handled badly or arrive on the shelves over-ripe, your customers will not be happy — they may decide not to shop at your store any more.

Advertising: You need to advertise what you sell.

Importer/ripenerWorking conditions: Work in an office. Maintain relationships with plantations, shippers, and shops

and supermarkets. Manage detailed inventory lists.Concerns: Transport: By truck from the European port to big ripening

centres, and from there to the shops. Contracts: You will have to promise the plantation owner that

you will buy a certain amount of bananas each week. You will have to promise the shops you will provide a certain amount of bananas each week. Whatever happens, you will have to keep the promises, even if something goes wrong in the supply chain and you are let down.

Big spaces: Importers need large spaces to store inventory. Ripening gas: Ethylene is used to ripen bananas. Repackaging: After ripening the bananas must be

repackaged so you will have to pay for the materials and for the workers to do this.

Review Review case study and make connections to supply chain issues.

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Role Cards

Banana WorkerWorking conditions: Works 12-14 hours per day of hard physical labour in hot conditions. Selects the best bananas. Washes bananas — you have your hands in water all day. Cut bananas — you carry heavy loads of bananas on your back. Applying fertilizers and pesticides — can lead to health risks such as cancer and other diseases. Pesticides

are also sprayed from planes — they are likely to fall on your home or the local school.Concerns: Will you have enough money to buy food, pay medical bills and send your children to school? You will be discouraged from joining a trade union, meaning you may not be allowed to meet with other

workers to collectively negotiate your pay and working conditions.

Plantation OwnerWorking Conditions: Works most of the day in an office. Negotiates buying and selling of bananas and other plantation costs. May supervise workers, but doesn’t do any heavy lifting.Concerns: Plantation running costs: You have to pay for expensive pesticides, fuel for pesticide-spraying airplanes,

tools, and machinery. Cost of lawyers: You will need lawyers if your workers sue you for work accidents. Waste: Regulations and shopper demand mean you must produce “perfect bananas” — meaning no marks

on the skin, nice shape etc. This takes a lot of skill and money to achieve. If any of your bananas don’t meet these high standards they have to be scrapped — so you lose money.

Risk factor: You bear the cost if the harvest is bad, or a hurricane or pest destroys your crop. Modernization investments: You need money to keep paying for the latest machines and ideas, so your

plantation stays up to date and you stay in business.

ShipperWorking Conditions: Works in an office to manage operations of workers and large ships. Maintains detailed schedules and product lists.Concerns: Ship costs: Big cargo ships are very expensive to buy and keep in working order. Fuel: You need to pay for fuel — one load between Latin America and Europe may be at sea for up to five

weeks. Insurance: If a cargo is lost or damaged, it may be your fault and you may have to pay for it. Refrigeration: On board, the bananas are kept in big fridges to prevent them from ripening during the time at

sea. If they ripen too soon they will be spoilt by the time they arrive at the shops. Port fees: You will have to pay for your ships to be in port at both ends of the sea journey.

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Shops and SupermarketsWorking Conditions: Work in an office. Negotiate prices with importers. Keep detailed inventory lists.Concerns: Staff: You have to pay the people who work in your store. They always want more money. Running costs: Lighting, transport, designing of staff uniforms, carrier bags etc. Competition: You need to take on new ideas, maybe build a bigger shop, buy new machinery to make sure

you make more money than other shops and stay in business. If the bananas are handled badly or arrive on the shelves over-ripe, your customers will not be happy — they

may decide not to shop at your store any more. Advertising: You need to advertise what you sell.

Importer/RipenerWorking conditions: Work in an office. Maintain relationships with plantations, shippers, and shops and supermarkets. Manage detailed inventory lists.Concerns: Transport: By truck from the European port to big ripening centres, and from there to the shops. Contracts: You will have to promise the plantation owner that you will buy a certain amount of bananas each

week. You will have to promise the shops you will provide a certain amount of bananas each week. Whatever happens, you will have to keep the promises, even if something goes wrong in the supply chain and you are let down.

Big spaces: Importers need large spaces to store inventory. Ripening gas: Ethylene is used to ripen bananas. Repackaging: After ripening the bananas must be repackaged so you will have to pay for the materials and

for the workers to do this.

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Lesson 5: Introduction to Fairtrade (Minimum Price + Labour issues)Lesson Objective:

Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the protective aspects of fair trade, including minimum prices and labour protections

Lesson

Fair vs. Unfair discussion

10 min Discussion. Have students think, pair, and share in response to the following:

Do you agree or disagree with the statement: "If you work hard, you'll make a lot of money."

Go further: Can you think of examples of people who work hard and

make a lot of money? Can you think of examples of people who work hard and

don't make a lot of money? How would you feel if someone paid you very little for

something that took you a long time to make? How would you feel if what you worked hard to make made someone else a lot of money, while you were paid very little?

Introduction to Fairtrade

30 min What is Fairtrade? (See handout below)

Fairtrade is a tool that aims to empower marginalized producers to improve their own living conditions. With the proper resources, capacity, and access to key relationships, disadvantaged producers are able to earn their own means to a better life for themselves and their communities.

Protections versus rights

Many international development programs are geared towards establishing protections for workers around the world, yet workers wouldn’t need these protections if they had proper rights to begin with. Fairtrade aims to empower producers by ensuring they have access to the rights they deserve. This involves letting them have their say in the issues that affect them.

Process and verification

Fairtrade products can be just like any other. Because production and trade standards cannot be verified by looking at a final product, certification and labeling systems are used to verify fair

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practices.

Fairtrade and the fair trade movement

Fair trade offers a vehicle for promoting discussion and awareness around global issues. It's about rethinking our production and consumption systems, and recognizing the role that we all play in creating a fair and sustainable world.

Goals for Fairtrade

Producers are paid a fair price that covers costs of production and adequate living standards for hired labour.

Producer groups ensure high standards for labour, environmental sustainability, and respect for cultural identity.

Producers are paid a Fairtrade Premium that supports business development and community initiatives such as improving access to health and education.

Producers, consumers, and businesses build stronger connections, reducing inefficiencies and encouraging more direct relationships.

Producers have access to credit, markets, resources, and industry knowledge.

Culminating Assignment #2: Data collection, research reports, identifying social issues

10 min Instructor to introduce Culminating Assignment #2 for the Making Connections Unit Project. Next class, students will be given computer time to conduct their research.

Based on the country and product selected for their unit project, students will report on data found through institutional research tools.

Using the CIA World Factbook, students will find and fill out the following information (include actual data and world rank where applicable):

People and Society Population Urban and rural population Infant mortality Life expectancy Health expenditure Drinking water source Sanitation facility access Major infectious disease (degree of risk) Children under the age of 5 underweight Education expenditure Literacy Child labour

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Economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita Agricultural - products Labour force Labour force - by occupation Approximately, how many agricultural workers? Unemployment rate Population below poverty line

Additionally, using one other source, students will identify social issues faced by agricultural populations. Sources to use include:

Human Rights Watch United Nations (and affiliate organizations) Amnesty International

Answer the following: What do the country’s statistics tell you about how the

people live? What social issues to people face? How do these social issues make people vulnerable? How might these vulnerabilities affect the supply of

products to Canada?

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Handout: What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is a tool that aims to empower marginalized producers to improve their own living conditions. With the proper resources, capacity, and access to key relationships, disadvantaged producers are able to earn their own means to a better life for themselves and their communities.

Protections versus rights

Many international development programs are geared towards establishing protections for workers around the world, yet workers wouldn’t need these protections if they had proper rights to begin with. Fairtrade aims to empower producers by ensuring they have access to the rights they deserve. This involves letting them have their say in the issues that affect them.

Process and verification

Fairtrade products can be just like any other. Because production and trade standards cannot be verified by looking at a final product, certification and labeling systems are used to verify fair practices.

Fairtrade and the fair trade movement

Fair trade offers a vehicle for promoting discussion and awareness around global issues. It's about rethinking our production and consumption systems, and recognizing the role that we all play in creating a fair and sustainable world.

Goals for Fairtrade

Producers are paid a fair price that covers costs of production and adequate living standards for hired labour.

Producer groups ensure high standards for labour, environmental sustainability, and respect for cultural identity.

Producers are paid a Fairtrade Premium that supports business development and community initiatives such as improving access to health and education.

Producers, consumers, and businesses build stronger connections, reducing inefficiencies and encouraging more direct relationships.

Producers have access to credit, markets, resources, and industry knowledge.

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Lesson 6: Project ResearchStudents should be given class time to conduct research in preparation for completing Culminating Assignment #2 for the Making Connections Unit Project.

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Lesson 7: Co-operatives and Fairtrade Premiums

Lesson Objective: Students will be able demonstrate understanding of the empowerment aspects of fair

trade, including price premiums and co-operative arrangements.

Lesson

Review of Fair Trade

10 min Review the goals of fair trade (Ask students to use handouts from last class) What is empowerment? Who does fair trade empower? How does fair trade empower? (What are the 5 goals of fair

trade?) Why do producers need empowerment?

What is a business activity: (Optional/time-permitting)

25 min Teachers may opt to use this activity in another lesson when there is more time available.

Class discussion: Put students into the mind-frame of a profit-oriented business owner.

Write “Bob’s Fruit Stand” on the board Ask students why Bob opened this store. (A: To make

money) What does Bob need to make money? (A: Store location,

fruit) If he doesn’t want to work weekends? (A: Employees) How does he pay for fruit and employees? (A: By selling

fruit) If Bob wants to make more money, what can he do?

o A: Raise prices (Will people still buy?)o A: Pay employees less (Will they complain?)o A: Find cheaper fruit (Why would farmers lower their

prices?)

Watch the following excerpts from the film “The Corporation”:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Yhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGTD5Bn1m0

Recap questions: What is meant by “a few bad apples”? What is meant by “earning large returns”? What is an “externality”?

Presentation: What is a co-operative?

20 min (See “Co-operatives Handout” Below)

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Fairtrade Premiums What are they for? Who decides how to spend them?

What is a co-operative? An association of people who voluntarily co-operate for

mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit Many forms: Community organizations, housing co-ops,

worker co-ops, credit unions, business co-ops, etc.

Co-operative values Democracy: Decisions are decided upon by a voting

membership. Self responsibility/participation: Members contribute

to the future and well-being of the organization. Equality: All members are treated equally -- no matter

their race, gender, economic status, etc. Each member has one vote, just the same as everyone else.

Solidarity: Members agree to establish mutual support or unified agreement when decisions are made.

Co-operatives and Fairtrade

For small operations (where family owners do most of the work):

Landowners form co-operatives Farmers sell their products together Members vote on how to distribute Fairtrade Premiums

among themselves and their communities.

For large operations (where owners hire workers to do most of the work):

Workers form labour unions. Premiums go to workers and their communities. Workers decide democratically how to spend Premiums.

Co-operative Class Role Play

30 min (See “Making Decisions as a Co-operative: Red Creek Farmers” handout below.)

ScenarioYour farmer co-op is making an important decision about whether to build a storage barn or to pay themselves more money. Having a storage barn will protect your cocoa beans if it rains while you’re drying them. If the beans get wet, you can lose much of your crop, which is your main source of income. As a member owner of your farmer co-op, which option would you vote for and why?

Background InfoYou are a member of the Red Creek Farmer Cooperative. Your co-op signed on to sell your cocoa to a Fair Trade company and

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a good-sized check just came into the co-op to pay for all your cocoa beans. For the last two years, your co-op has not been able to get a good price and your family got very thin because there was so little food. Everyone has been thinking about all the things they’ll be able to do now that they’ll have good checks coming in.

Farmer #1You’re excited about getting some money, but you have been thinking a lot about how best to use it. Part of the reason you made so little money over the last two years was that you lost a lot of your crop just when you were ready to ship it out. Storms came and destroyed it. You’re thinking that all the co-op members should put their money together to build a storage shed to protect your crops. Waiting just a little more to get your money will mean there will be fewer times when you don’t get it.

Farmer #2You are so excited about getting some money. You are planning to put your money into rebuilding part of your house. It always feels like it will fall down during a storm and your children get scared. You are looking forward to building something just a little more sturdy for your family. You’ve heard a rumor that someone is going to propose that the co-op keep all the money at the meeting today, but you’re sure no one could be that crazy.

Farmer #3You’re up for anything. You really want everyone to get along and you’re not as concerned about what the decisions are. You’ve heard that some of the members want to invest in the co-op’s future and some have things they feel their family needs to invest in. You see the wisdom in both choices.

Farmer #4Your oldest daughter is interested in going to a business program at a community college in the city. If she goes, she might be able to really help the co-op better understand how to run the business with so many complicated things going on. You’re really looking forward to having the money to pay for her to go.

Procedure1. Divide the class into 4 groups. Have all of the Farmer #1,

#2, etc. How do they feel about their situation? What decision is best for them?

2. Break the groups into "co-operatives," each containing 1 of each type of farmer, and give them X minutes to reach a decision on how to allocate their resources.

Review/discussion:

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What made this decision difficult? Is there a "correct" answer? Which way did you vote? Why? How do you feel about the outcome? Is the outcome

what's best for you? Is it what's best for the group? (Are these the same?)

Did conflict arise? How did you deal with it?

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Co-operatives Handout

Fairtrade Premiums What are they for? Who decides how to spend them?

What is a co-operative? An association of people who voluntarily co-operate for mutual social, economic, and

cultural benefit Many forms: Community organizations, housing co-ops, worker co-ops, credit unions,

business co-ops, etc.

Co-operative values Democracy: Decisions are decided upon by a voting membership. Self responsibility/participation: Members contribute to the future and well-being of

the organization. Equality: All members are treated equally -- no matter their race, gender, economic

status, etc. Each member has one vote, just the same as everyone else. Solidarity: Members agree to establish mutual support or unified agreement when

decisions are made.

Co-operatives and Fairtrade

For small operations (where family owners do most of the work): Landowners form co-operatives Farmers sell their products together Members vote on how to distribute Fairtrade Premiums among themselves and their

communities.

For large operations (where owners hire workers to do most of the work): Workers form labour unions. Premiums go to workers and their communities. Workers decide democratically how to spend Premiums.

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Making Decisions as a Co-operative: Red Creek Farmers

ScenarioYour farmer co-op is making an important decision about whether to build a storage barn or to pay themselves more money. Having a storage barn will protect your cocoa beans if it rains while you’re drying them. If the beans get wet, you can lose much of your crop, which is your main source of income. As a member owner of your farmer co-op, which option would you vote for and why?

Background InfoYou are a member of the Red Creek Farmer Co-operative. Your co-op signed on to sell your cocoa to a fair trade company and a good-sized check just came into the co-op to pay for all your cocoa beans. For the last two years, your co-op has not been able to get a good price and your family got very thin because there was so little food. Everyone has been thinking about all the things they’ll be able to do now that they’ll have good checks coming in.

Farmer #1You’re excited about getting some money, but you have been thinking a lot about how best to use it. Part of the reason you made so little money over the last two years was that you lost a lot of your crop just when you were ready to ship it out. Storms came and destroyed it. You’re thinking that all the co-op members should put their money together to build a storage shed to protect your crops. Waiting just a little more to get your money will mean there will be fewer times when you don’t get it.

Farmer #2You are so excited about getting some money. You are planning to put your money into rebuilding part of your house. It always feels like it will fall down during a storm and your children get scared. You are looking forward to building something just a little more sturdy for your family. You’ve heard a rumor that someone is going to propose that the co-op keep all the money at the meeting today, but you’re sure no one could be that crazy.

Farmer #3You’re up for anything. You really want everyone to get along and you’re not as concerned about what the decisions are. You’ve heard that some of the members want to invest in the co-op’s future and some have things they feel their family needs to invest in. You see the wisdom in both choices.

Farmer #4Your oldest daughter is interested in going to a business program at a community college in the city. If she goes, she might be able to really help the co-op better understand how to run the business with so many complicated things going on. You’re really looking forward to having the money to pay for her to go.

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Lesson 8: Children’s rightsLesson Objective:

Students will be able demonstrate understanding of the needs and rights of children. Students will be able to discuss children’s rights issues within the context of the

chocolate industry.

Lesson

Film: The Dark Side of Chocolate

70 min

Distribute the “Declaration of the Rights of the Child” handout (below)

This plain language version is only given as a guide. For an exact rendering of each principle, refer students to the original. This version is based in part on the translation of a text, prepared in 1978, for the World Association for the School as an Instrument of Peace, by a Research Group of the University of Geneva, under the responsibility of Prof. L. Massarenti. In preparing the translation, the Group used a basic vocabulary of 2,500 words in use in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Teachers may adopt this methodology by translating the text of the Universal Declaration in the language in use in their region.

http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/plainchild.asp

Review the handout and key terms with students.

Watch The Dark Side of Chocolate (46:31)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vfbv6hNeng

As students watch the film, have them identify and describe how West Africa’s chocolate industry threatens the rights of children.

Review responses as a class

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Declaration of the Rights of the ChildPlain Language Version

1. All children have the right to what follows, no matter what their race, colour sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to.

2. You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.

3. You have a right to a name and to be a member of a country.

4. You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services.

5. You have the right to special care if handicapped in any way.

6. You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these cannot help.

7. You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful.

8. Your parents have special responsibilities for your education and guidance.

9. You have the right always to be among the first to get help.

10. You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally.

11. You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your health, and your moral and physical development.

12. You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people.

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Lesson 9: Women in AgricultureObjective: Students will demonstrate understanding of the issues facing women in agricultural communities and how opportunities to work can improve their lives and the lives of their families.

Women in Agriculture Presentation

40 min Gender issues in agriculture, and the world, is a huge topic that can affect different people in many different ways. The last century has seen many improvements in gender equality in many developed countries (although, it is still something we work toward). There are still many ongoing issues that the world seeks to address.

Women's rights in a community, country, or culture can be a significant indicator for living standards and overall well-being, as it can connect to many other issues such as health, education, and poverty.

Women's rights have to do with, but is not limited to, cultural, political, and economic relations within a population.

Women are often the most vulnerable in a community. They are more subject to the worst forms of poverty. They are often required to make sacrifices by not going to school or working from an early age to support their families. Women often work more but are paid less. Inequalities affect women of all ages, from young girls to seniors.

In this lesson, we will look at how women can demonstrate great resilience in their communities. We'll also look at how initiatives supported by fair trade can provide the resources for women to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

Homework assignment: “Celebrating Women in Fairtrade”

5 min Assign reading and review questions (see handout below).

Student work time 30 min Students to work on homework and/or unit projects.

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Our Pacific Ways: “Women in Agriculture” (Video)

Questions:

How is land important to women in Papa New Guinea?

What type of work do women do in Papa New Guinea?

What do these women need money for?

What resources/conditions will help women succeed in their agricultural business?

When women have good jobs, how does this benefit their families and their communities?

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Celebrating Women in Fairtrade07 March 2013March 8 marks International Women’s Day, and throughout Fairtrade we honour the hard-working women.

The most recent Fairtrade monitoring report indicates that women represent 20 percent of all farmers and 47 percent of hired workers in Fairtrade. Taken together, one in four Fairtrade producers are women. Women are active in all aspects of Fairtrade, from farming to processing, and in some cases, management of producer organisations and cooperatives.

The dedication of the passionate and dedicated women we feature below has contributed to the increased participation of women in Fairtrade in each of the producer regions. More importantly, these women have helped increase gender equality, workers’ rights, and opportunities for women.

Ibu Rahmah, Chairwoman of Ketiara Coffee CooperativeTo hear Ibu Rahmah tell it, coffee is more than just a commodity in the Central Aceh Regency of Indonesia: it’s like family.

Rahmah would know. Her father was a coffee farmer (and her grandfather before that) and she’s been in the business for over 20 years.

That’s one of the reasons she was elected chairwoman of Ketiara Cooperative, which she started in 2009 with just 38 members. Today, Ketiara boasts 902 small farmers – and 136 are women.

While Rahmah has plenty of women helping her on the managing side of Ketiara, she says she takes the most satisfaction from seeing the success of Ketiara at the village level, where Rahmah has helped establish a link to nearly all the important traders in the regional capital and coffee-hub, Medan. This year, Ketiara estimates it will produce 612 metric tonnes of organic Fairtrade green beans.

Rahmah still maintains her own coffee farm and knows how valuable the women of the region are in contributing to the success of the cooperative.

“In this region,” Rahmah says, “those who deal with the coffee farming day to day are women.”

She adds with a laugh: “The men are usually just smoking a cigarette!”

Ketiara became Fairtrade certified in 2012 and has been investing its Fairtrade Premium to cultivate better coffee and to implement erosion prevention measures. Rahmah says that this month marks the first time Ketiara farmers will receive some of the Fairtrade Premium directly.

“The money is not much,” she says, “but the farmers are very happy.”

Ibu Rahmah, second from left, is board chairwoman of Kopepi Ketiara, a coffee cooperative in Indonesia where women play key roles.

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Adela Torres, General Secretary of SINTRAINAGRO workers’ unionAfter a decade of working as a labourer on a banana plantation, Adela Torres knew she wanted to be a defender of workers’ rights. At the time, there were major obstacles for a workers’ rights champion, such as the poor enforcement of social and labour laws, lack of opportunities, gender discrimination, and even extreme violence by armed groups. But Torres was determined to stand up for the rights of the workers and joined the Colombian union SINTRAINAGRO.

Fifteen years later, Torres’s work has helped expand SINTRAINAGRO, which now represents 26,000 workers in Colombia, including 2,500 workers on 20 Fairtrade certified banana plantations. She considers improving the conditions of workers through collective bargaining agreements to be one of her biggest achievements, especially as she was able to “convince employers that if we can achieve dignity for the workers, this can improve production efficiency.”

Torres also highlights her work throughout Colombia and internationally with women workers. She adds that the Women’s Secretariat is one of the most dynamic departments in SINTRAINAGRO.

Despite her success, Torres is well aware that challenges remain. She says currency revaluation and the presence of armed groups in the region make normal union activity difficult.

Regarding Fairtrade workers, unfair tariffs for bananas in certain regions and the stigma regarding the quality of products coming from Colombia are two things Torres is working to change.

“We have therefore insisted that [Fairtrade] plantation workers should be offered the appropriate conditions to be able to do their jobs and fulfil this commitment,” Torres says. “This process is underway.”

The challenges only harden her resolve.

“Each victory involves a major commitment and generally generates more strength to continue working for workers’ rights,” Torres says, “and in particular for the people who need it most - women among them.”

The women of the Tighanimine CooperativeThe fact that Agadir in southwest Morocco has an abundance of argan trees was not lost on a group of village women in a literacy class organized by Nadia Fatmi. They also knew that their region was very poor, and they had no means of generating income for themselves.

Given that argan trees only grow in that part of the world, and that the oil had been a staple in homes in the village for some time, the women in Fatmi’s literacy class decided to do something to lift themselves out of poverty.

In 2007, they started the world’s first argan oil cooperative - Tighanimine - which became Fairtrade certified in 2011.

"It is the ancestral work of women in the south of Morocco," says Tighanimine spokeswoman, Afafe Daoud. "They are the only ones who can break the fruit and extract the oil."

Argan oil has become a key ingredient of luxury cosmetics, and quickly found markets around the world.

By forming a cooperative, the 60 women farmers of Tighanimine challenged a long-standing tradition in their area that a woman's husband or father was the sole bread-winner.

"They were financially dependent on men, one hundred percent" says Daoud.

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Initially, the men resisted the women’s initiative – that is, until the extra money started to come in.

"Little by little, when they began to see the economic benefits, they became more cooperative and even encouraged other women to join the cooperative," Daoud recalls.

Tighanimine’s Fairtrade volume remains relatively low, but the cooperative was recently licensed to sell their argan oil with the FAIRTRADE Mark. They have developed their own brand called Tounaroz and plan to sell in Morocco, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the USA. Moving up the value chain ensures that even more benefits reach the women in the cooperative.

In addition to developments on the market side, the cooperative was given an award by the Moroccan Network for Social and Solidarity Economy and the Pan-African Institute for Development for its work in good governance and economic development. And, Fatmi has since been elected to the chair of Fairtrade North African Board.

Daoud says it's easy to see some of the effects Tighanimine has had on the women – such as nicer clothes for themselves or their children, or households that are better maintained. Other benefits, says Daoud, are less obvious.

"Women who work in the cooperative began to have more confidence in themselves, because they feel important in their home."

Source: Fairtrade International. http://www.fairtrade.net/single-view+M5cbefdfdb11.html

QuestionsWhat roles to women have in Fairtrade agricultural co-operatives?

What benefit has there been for women working on Fairtrade co-operatives?

What challenges do these women still face?

How can market developments offer benefits to women?

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TEACHER NOTES: Poverty and undernourishment among womenDo women and girls make up the majority of the world’s poor?Poverty is normally measured in terms of income or consumption at the household level, not for individuals, so separate poverty rates for men and women cannot be calculated. However, females may be poorer than males if broader measures of poverty are considered, such as access to productive resources and inputs: compared with their male counterparts, female farmers in all regions control less land and livestock, make far less use of improved seed varieties and purchased inputs such as fertilizers, are much less likely to use credit or insurance, have lower education levels and are less likely to have access to extension services.

Are female-headed households poorer than male-headed households?Data from 35 nationally representative surveys for 20 countries analysed by FAO show that female-headed households are more likely to be poor than male-headed households in some countries, but the opposite is true in other countries – so it is not possible to generalize.

Data limitations also make it impossible to distinguish systematically between households headed by women who are single, widowed or divorced (de jure female heads) and those who are associated with an adult male who supports the family through remittances and social networks (de facto female heads). It is likely that the former are more likely to be poor than the latter.6

There is also evidence to suggest that rural female-headed households were more vulnerable than males during the food price shock of 2008 because they spend a larger proportion of household income on food and because they were less able to respond by increasing food production.7 But again, these results vary by country.

Are women and girls more likely to be undernourished than men and boys?Such an assumption is not supported by available evidence, and generalizations are difficult to make. The limited evidence available suggests that this may be true in Asia, while it is not true in Africa. And while women are disadvantaged with regard to hunger and nutrition in many locations, this is not always the case. More sex-disaggregated data of better quality on anthropometric and other indicators of malnutrition are needed to arrive at clear conclusions.

There is, however, evidence that girls are much more vulnerable to transitory income shocks than boys,8 and certain health and nutritional issues are sex-specific. For example, women’s energy and nutritional needs increase during menstruation, pregnancy and lactation and their nutritional status has an impact on their offspring. There is also evidence that women have higher morbidity than men – not only because they live longer – and that they are less likely to access health services.9

Thus, gender differences in nutrition and health could have important policy implications for society. Policy interventions that address the specific health and nutrition issues of women are important, but their nature and scope should always reflect the specific context and location.

Source: http://www.fao.org/sofa/gender/did-you-know/en/

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Lesson 10: EnvironmentObjective: Students will be able to demonstrate how Fairtrade commitments to environmental sustainability can help improve environmental issues in the banana industry.

Case Study: Bananas

25 min Students will review environmental issues in the banana industry and discuss how Fairtrade standards can help improve conditions for workers and their communities.

Student work time 50 min Students to work on homework and/or unit projects.

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BananaLink: Environmental ProblemsMonoculture and high input productionMost bananas exported to Europe are grown on large-scale plantations in Latin America, and increasingly, in Africa. Banana plantations are monocultures – where only one type of crop is grown. 97% of internationally traded bananas come from one single variety, the Cavendish. This lack of genetic variety makes plants highly susceptible to pests, fungi and diseases and therefore large quantities of insecticides and other pesticides are applied to the crops.

As the pests and diseases adapt, ever stronger, more harmful pesticides need to be applied. In several countries plantation owners spend more money on agrochemicals than on their workforce. Fertilisers and pesticides pollute water channels resulting in fish kills and the destruction of other aquatic life including coral reefs. Carelessly stored chemicals seep into the soil and water courses.

Key environmental problems include: contamination of water courses

massive levels of waste

soil erosion

increased risk of flooding

deforestation and destruction of habitats

destruction of soil fertility resulting in high fertiliser use.

Impacts on workers and their communities Polluted water is used for drinking, cooking and washing. Agrochemicals are applied by hand and aerially sprayed. It is estimated that 85% of chemicals sprayed by plane fail to land on the crop, instead saturating the whole area, including workers, their homes and food. Laws prohibiting workers from being in the fields when spraying takes place are routinely violated in some countries.

For plantation workers and local people, the health impacts of extensive agrochemical use are numerous, ranging from depression and respiratory problems to cancer, miscarriages and birth defects. Tens of thousands of workers left sterile by the use of a nematicide, DBCP, in Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the 1970s are still seeking justice in the US courts from the multinationals involved.

Source: http://www.bananalink.org.uk/environmental-problems

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Fairtrade Environmental StandardsFairtrade rewards and encourages farming and production practices that are environmentally sustainable. Producers are also encouraged to strive toward organic certification. Producers must:

Protect the environment in which they work and live. This includes areas of natural water, virgin forest and other important land areas and dealing with problems of erosion and waste management.

Develop, implement and monitor an operations plan on their farming and techniques. This needs to reflect a balance between protecting the environment and good business results.

Follow national and international standards for the handling of chemicals. There is a list of chemicals which they must not use.

Not, intentionally, use products which include genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Work out and monitor what affect their activities are having on the environment. Then they must make a plan of how they can lessen the impacts and keep checking that this plan is carried out.

Souce: http://www.fairtrade.net/benefits-of-fairtrade.html

Questions

What environmental problems could be avoided in the banana industry if Fairtrade standards were applied?

How does improving environmental sustainability benefit workers and their communities?

What other environmental issues have you encountered in your research? How could Fairtrade standards help to improve these conditions?

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Lesson 11: Fair Trade Advocacy in CanadaObjective: Students will learn about the scope of support for fair trade in Canada.

Presentation: Fair Trade Advocacy in Canada

25 min Students to learn about advocacy work in Canada.

Student work time 50 min Students to work on homework and/or unit projects.

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Lesson 12: Unit completion

Optional working time and student report submission

75 min Students to submit final research reports.

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