Meet fairandfunky friends is our blog series to get to know the people behind fairandfunky, the people we work with, and how together, we take little steps to change the world. We are constantly inspired by the people we meet and love being able to share their stories. This week we welcome Joanna Abena Fianu, wearer of MANY Fairtrade hats, to answer our questions…
Who are you, where are you from and what do you do? I’m Joanna Abena Fianu. I live in Chorley Lancashire and I have lots of different fair trade hats: I’m the Chair of Fairtrade Lancashire, with my husband I run a social enterprise working with cocoa farmers in Ghana and my day job is supporting fair trade and social enterprises to thrive.
What makes you a fairandfunky friend? I love what fairandfunky do to promote Fairtrade in schools and their whole social media engagement is fantastic. The children of today are the Fairtrade customers of tomorrow – and some might even decide they would like a career in fair trade when they grow up, so fairandfunky is helping build the future of our movement.
What little steps do you take to change the world? Working directly with Fairtrade cocoa farmers and their families in New Koforidua, Africa’s first fair trade town is incredibly rewarding. They are part of the huge Kuapa Kokoo cocoa cooperative but even if they are able to sell some or all of their beans on Fairtrade terms, cocoa incomes are seasonal and farming is precarious. We run The Co-operative House which was built a few years ago as a haven for fair trade supporters to stay in a cocoa growing community. We have plans to open a tourist cafe and a cocoa kitchen where local people can learn to make chocolate, cocoa butter cosmetics and other food products using the beans they have grown themselves, for sale locally. This should bring lots of opportunities for employment but before that we are employing lots of local tradespeople to renovate the house. None of the things we’re doing is a big project, but adding them all together will help us support lots of upskilling and employment in a sustainable way.
Who influences or inspires you? And why? I work closely with Bruce Crowther who as well as inventing the Fair Trade Towns movement, established the relationship with New Koforidua and built The Co-operative House. He’s someone who doesn’t know how important he is, and I love that quiet determination to make a difference without making it all about himself. One of my biggest influences has always been Anita Roddick who decided back in the hyper-consumerist 1980s that the way she wanted to do business was fairer, greener and with an ethical lens. I particularly love that in her will she left her 25% share in Divine chocolate to the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo. Fair trade is not just about buying a slightly more expensive coffee or banana from a huge multinational corporation, it’s a movement towards a fairer global trading system where farmers, workers and artisans get a fair slice of the pie. To be truly sustainable a business has to make as little negative impact on the planet and as much positive impact on people as possible and Anita Roddick understood that before most of us.
How do YOU inspire others to take little steps to change the world? I love talking to groups of children and adults about life in Ghana and the importance of choosing Fairtrade. Being able to share our personal experiences, and talk about the people we work with and how we’re helping them increase and diversify incomes has a big impact on everyone we speak to. When we are able to share positive plans and ideas people get very excited and want to support in any way they can, In particular when we talk about the fact that most children of cocoa farmers have never tasted chocolate, everyone agrees this isn’t fair so being able to deliver chocolate making lessons to children in Ghana is a solution to help make the world a fairer place. We encourage everyone to take the simple action of choosing to buy Fairtrade whenever they can, which helps farmers achieve the best incomes they can from their crop. Less than half of all the Fairtrade cocoa produced is actually sold on Fairtrade terms, so the more we continue to choose Fairtrade the better it is for farmers and workers.
Tweets by @fair_funky
