WINFA, Fair Trade seeking partnerships with businesses

Coordinator of the Windward Islands Farmers Association, Renwick Rose (pictured at right), has indicated that the WINFA and Fair Trade organizations are seeking partnerships with other private entities for the development of not only agro based industries but also ideas.{{more}}

Speaking at the launch of the pension plan for fair trade farmers last Thursday at the CLICO office in Kingstown, Rose said that the organizations are willing to work with local companies for the purpose of social development, as is the case with the fair trade family in other territories.

“The contribution that fair trade is making to this pension plan is part of the contributions that fair trade has been making in the Windward Islands. There have been many, many important social contributions to the extent that perhaps fair trade is well known and well established in the other countries.”

Rose went on to state that a number of important agro-based and social projects have been implemented in neighboring countries; in St. Lucia, Learning Resource Centres for schools, as well as hotel markets for vegetable farmers.

In Grenada, the fair trade organization is in the process of developing a honey market in Europe for beekeepers, and in Dominica, WINFA/Fair Trade has provided a school bus service for students.

Here at home, Windward Island farmers have collectively invested in an agro processing plant (Montaque), and there are plans to expand this plant into an agro tourism project.

Rose called for public and private corporations to come forward and work with WINFA /Fair Trade in order to make contributions to not only farmers but also society.

“We don’t want to go cap in hand begging the private sector firms to give us contributions to this or that. We want to come to you and say: “Both of us can do something which is in your interest and our interest, and the interest of national development, and it is this contest we are situating the project.”

“The word diversification is very much bandied about, but we have a holistic approach when it comes to diversification; not only within the agricultural industry itself, but also most importantly, the diversification of the ideas for the development of society.”(JJ)