Thrillers and Suspense
Why did Mars and Cadbury recently decided to seek third-party verification for some or all of their chocolate products? Trading Visions, a UK web site devoted to increasing information and education about fairtrade, wanted to find out. They contacted both Mars and Cadbury and number organizations to provide their answers to this and other questions. I was invited to contribute my own thoughts as well.
You can find the all questions and answers on their web site.
According to a report in Agence France Press, an increasing number of farmers in the Côte d’Ivoire are abandoning cocoa farming in favor or growing rubber trees. If that trend is indeed as widespread as the article claims–hundreds of hectares every year–then this important news.
I’ve mentioned the social premium aspect of fairtrade in previous posts. I consider that at least as important as the guaranteed price, the other leg of the fairtrade system. My visit to the Toledo Cocoa Growers Association, though, taught me that there are different ways to distribute that social premium.
My article on cocoa growers in Belize was just published by my local paper, the Ashland Daily Tidings.
Here’s a bit of news I never thought I’d see. According to a report on AllAfrica, the IMF has adopted a new framework for lending that removes the hated conditionality. Starting May 1, 2009, countries who are drawing on IMF resources will no longer have to apply for a formal waiver if they don’t meet performance criteria set by the IMF.
