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FairTrade
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On August 13, Fazenda Tamanduá carried out
the election of the Fair Trade Committee,
fulfilling a requirement of the
certification process for the FLO label. At
2:00 p.m., 68 workers from all areas of the
Farm, including third-party workers, met in
the hall of the house where the offices are
installed in order to elect their
representatives.Iranise Pedro, a
psychologist with 6 years’ experience of
working with communities, and Gabriela, a
student of anthropology who carried out
research on the impacts of the development
of the rural area on the families at Fazenda
Tamanduá and its outskirts, took part as
facilitators for the proceedings. |
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We started with a dialogue on the meaning of Fair
Trade, recalling what had already been discussed at
the January meeting. At first, the people were
rather shy. Pierre took part and spoke about Fair
Trade’s history and its main characteristics. Next,
he talked about his concerns regarding people’s
expectations. He called attention to the fact that
the money resulting from the sale of Fair Trade
mangoes might not be very much because, considering
that the Farm’s mangoes are already organic, few
people were willing to pay for two extras: for the
organic and the fair trade features. |
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Gabi and
Iranise during the meeting |
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The climate among the participants started to
warm up when they were asked what a committee
was for. The answer, in the words of our friend
Roberto – who works in the workshop – was the
following: “To discuss things that will benefit
the community. To discuss problems and what we
can do.”
We talked about the Committee’s functions,
emphasizing the importance of awareness among
the candidates elected, who should be
representing everyone’s wishes and acting to
benefit the community, rather than deciding
based on what they thought best. We also talked
about the importance of the Committee being as
representative and diversified as possible, with
representatives from all areas of the Farm,
including temporary workers and women. Finally,
we emphasized that in addition to the management
of the funds, the committee represented an
opportunity to be together, talking about their
lives, thinking and creating alternatives as a
group. |
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They all agreed and showed they were happy. We then
moved on to the main agenda: the election. The first
attempt proposed was that they should divide into groups
and elect 7 candidates. Among the latter they would
choose 5. After some discussion in small groups, some
proposed that all areas of the Farm should take part,
each putting forward 3 candidates. That was settled. In
a direct ballot, they raised their hands in order to
elect only one representative per area: the corral was
represented by Rubens, dehydrated fruit by Paula, the
cheese plant by Ismênia, the rural workers from outside
the Farm by Claudio, the rural workers from inside the
Farm by George, the carpentry area by Adelino, the
administrative department by Manoel, the workshop by
Roberto and reception by Antonio.According to Iranise’s
instructions, they should now choose 5 out of the 9
representatives elected in order to compose the
Committee. Gabriela proposed that each person should
vote for two names on the list. After the procedure was
explained, we started the process |
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The result: we had more votes than twice the number of
people in the room. The conclusion was that some people
did not understand and raised their hands more than
twice. Their suggestion was that they should raise their
hands, freely, for those who they thought should be
members of the committee. The 5 people that received the
most votes would form the committee. When they were
asked if they felt well represented by the 5 people
elected, if they were sure of the names they had chosen,
the answer was yes, yes, yes. They all cheered their
representatives and walked out to the veranda for the
soft drinks that awaited them.
A sensation that not everything was right hung in the
air, and the whispers seemed to confirm that
supposition. After a lot of talk about the process,
Iranise and Gabriela suspected they knew the point that
had made things go wrong: the requirement for 5 names
was external and had no reason to exist. It had not come
from the group. Perhaps, for this group, a committee of
9 people – representing all the different areas of the
Farm – would be the most representative option. |
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On the
following day, Iranise visited each area of the Farm and
asked the following question: if, yeasterday, you had
been able to choose between a committee formed by the 5
people you elected and a committee formed by the 9
people elected previously, which would you prefer? Which
do you think would best represent your interests? The
great majority said they would choose having the 9
representatives, one for each area of the Farm. With the
consent of the majority, they decided that the committee
would be composed of the 9 people. The Fazenda Tamanduá
Fair Trade Committee is now composed of: Rubens, Paula,
Ismênia, Claudio, George, Adelino, Manoel, Roberto and
Antonio!
Iranise Pedro |
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Fazenda
Tamanduá in BioFach América Latina |
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September
9-10 will happen in Rio de Janeiro the BioFach America
Latina. Fazenda Tamandua will present as exhibitor and
as a speaker too. On September 9, in the panel Social
Aspects of Organic Agriculture, Pierre Landolt will
present Fazenda Tamandua´s Case, with focus in social
responsability. |
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