Fair Trade Forum – India placed 13 POCs last year in Al – NafishProteins, 13 in ChamdaUdyog and 4 in Lajij Hotel. On March 20^th the FTF team visited Al- Nafish Proteins to monitor the working conditions and to take feedback from the POCs about the same. The 13 POCs who were placed initially are still working at the factory and are happy with the work. One of the POCs Mohd. Zahid has now turned into a contractor and has employed 14-15 more POCs and is planning to start a unit of his own. Mr. Zahid gave the team a tour around the factory and explained the entire meat processing process. He also explained that the organ, POCs are working on is the most valuable product in meat processing.

The observations made by the team were that though the POCs are being paid well and are happy with the job there is no assured social security for them. The POCs are not provided with complete safety gears. The living conditions they are provided with are poor and unhygienic.

The team assured Mr. Zahid that FTF will be happy to help with the documentation part for the factory if required.

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Location: Chandeni -1, Chandeni-2, Ward No: 7

Date:15-03-19

The mission consisted of

• Pema Tenzin, US Embassy representative
• Walter Sanchez, Head – Durable Solutions, UNHCR
• Dolan Mukherjee, Sr. Project Coordinator, FTF-I

The Mission was received at Nuh Bus-stop by Mr. RandhirSingh, Community Counsellor and Mr. VineetBhagoji, Project Coordinator from the Believe India (BI) Team.  The Visit commenced at around 9 am. Mr. Vineet from the BI team welcomed the Representatives from the mission and gave them a brief introduction about the project activities in Mewat.  The mission was then taken to visit the vegetable shop of Mr. Kamal Hussain who received loan under the re- Bank scheme. Mr. Walter and Mr. Pema Interacted with Mr. Kamal Hussain and asked several questions. Mr. Walter was impressed with the fact that the concerned POC has bought a motorbike for his use and suggested that he should get a carriage fixed at the back to get vegetables from the market. Mr. Pema interacted with Kamal in Hindi and asked him questions related to his clientele and family composition and education of his children. Later the mission visited the micro enterprise of Ms. RohimaKhatoon who runs a breakfast and snacks outlet, Mr. Hifzul Rahman and Mr. Md. Hussain who run a grocery store and a chicken shop respectively. All the 3 enterprises are on Chandani main road. Ms.RohimaKhatoon was not keeping well, so we had to interact with her husband who was assisting Ms. Khatoon to run the business. Mr. Tenzin asked a similar set of Questions to all the 3 entrepreneurs regarding their clientele, Family composition and education of their children and their relations with the local communities. Mr. Walter asked the question about the progress made by the concerned POCs after the intervention made by Implementing partners in terms of the new purchases for their households and the change it has bought in their lifestyles. One more question Mr. Sanchez stressed on was where and how will the POC invest his profits in order to expand his business. They appreciated the progress made by the POCs. The mission then visited the community in Chandani and took stock of the housing also had a brief interaction with the Chairman of the Community. Mr. Pema also visited the house of Mr. Hifzul Rahman and inspected the Bathrooms as well with due permission from the POCs. The BI team later escorted the mission to the Chandani center to interact with the trainees who were learning to stitch. During the interaction, Mr. Walter asked if the women had worked on any hand skill prior to migration and encouraged them to make some embroidery designs native to Burma for showcasing in the future. Ms. Dolan from FTF-I took the initiative to make the women in the center feel comfortable and conversed in Bengali with them. Her efforts made it easier for the POCs at the center to open up and answer all the questions posed to them easily. The mission then visited the grocery store of Mr. Noor Islam where a similar set of the question was posed to him by the visitors. The Mission also interacted with the POCs Placed in the Tanneries and understood the placement model from the beneficiaries themselves. Mr. Walter also suggested that discussion should be started with the employer to further benefit the placed refugees in terms of social security but at the same time acknowledged and appreciated the fact that the placed POCs were earning more than the local population working in the tannery. The mission then visited the community playground where the POCs reminded Mr. Sanchez of his promise of getting them a football. The POCs then showcased their national game “Pache” and Mr. Walter joined the POCs and showcased his athletic and football skills. During the game was going on Mr. Pema interacted Ms. Dolan and inquired that like the Congolese group and the Somalian groups, does Rohingya community have a potential to set up a food group. Ms. Dolan informed Mr. Pema that the POCs have the potential but the main component of their food is usually meat and often beef which will be a no go with the Indian community so space has not been explored. The Visit came to an end with the visit to the BI office cum training center in Ward No. 7 where the mission met the POC from the Ajida group, howeve,r only one POC was working because it was a Friday and the other 4 POCs left to offer their Friday prayer. The Visit ended at 15:30 hours. Mr. Sanchez suggested that the implementation partners should explore and submit an proposal for training the skilled youth from the rohingya community to become a football trainer and get them certified by an external agency. Mr. Pema also suggested that UNHCR and its partners should start a dialogues with travel agencies to explorethe inclusion of POC Community (Jaipur) visits in their itinerary anda shop should be set up to sell the products made by refugees.

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FTF-I salutes all the Women out there and their Spirit and Efforts for making India Stronger in their own way.FTF-I celebrates the women of dreams, whose dreams are never about her and always strives for her loved ones.

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PRAGYA; an NGO working for the welfare of Himalayan farmers conducted a workshop on 6th March 2019 in New Delhi, at the Indian Habitat Center. This multi-stakeholder consultation by Pragya was addressed by some very prominent experts in the field of global Agricultural experts along with Business leader & Marketing Consultants. The audience of the workshop displayed a wide cultural diversity with farmers from different parts of the Himalayas, including Leh, Uttarkashi, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. The Workshop addressed the issue of “A responsible Trade Network for Himalayan Agri-produce” where the issue and its solution were suggested by the experts.

Fair Trade Forum- India President, Iytha Mallikarjuna was invited at the Event for the panel discussion on Ethical and Equitable Trade Partnership- promoting Fair Trade along Himalayan Agro-Products value Chain. On behalf of FTF-I, Mr.Iytha presented as into how adhering to Fair Trading practices can help promote Fair trade along the Himalayan farmers and what are the concerns that needs to be addressed and looked into to start the fair trade and benefit the primary producers instead of filling the pockets of big business tycoons and starving our farmers. the session was very interactive with farmers consulting the experts regarding their problems and the healthy dialogue certainly proved very beneficial on both the ends. It was a really great initiative by PRAGYA that helped bring together the Practical aspects of the farmers meet the technical Expertise from the Guests lead to fruitful discussion.

After The discussion diferent groups also set up their information Booth in the hall where the guests from around the country took turns to understand the work being performed by different NGO gruops. FTF-I also had an information booth set up, that informed the audience about our work and principles. we had also  potrayed the products produced by different member organisation. the audience were quite fascinated by the beautiful and unique Products by our members including the seedable pencil and notebooks along with jute bags and candles. This workshop also brought many willing to be members in the FTF-I team.

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The   Fair   Cooking   Campaign   was   supported by Fair Trade International  – India Chapter in two phases, one was at the venue of the Conference i.e., Hotel Crowne Plaza, Okhla during the entire conference and at Fair Cooking Night held on 10thNovember, 2017 at The Junction, Hauz Khas .Full Report

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The  Fair  Utsav  Saket  –  exhibition  of  Indian  crafts  and weaves started on 8th  November, 2017 and was wrapped up by 13th  November, 2017. It   was inaugurated by the WFTO board members along with the FTF-I board members. I AM (Indian Artisan  Movement)  was  launched  at  this  platform  by  the  Board  of  FTF-I  at  this    grand ceremony.  The  I  Am  campaign  was  launched  with  the  motive  to  strengthen  the advocacy for  basic rights  of  Artisans and Fair wages for Artisans.Read More

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Tagline: Style Me Sustainable

Date: 10th November 2017

Held at National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi

Fair Fashion   Show-   “Style   Me   Sustainable”   –   a   unique   event   showcasing   beautiful ensembles made from Fair/Natural fabrics & fibers, was showcased on 10th November as a part of  WFTW  2017  thereby  sending  out  a  strong  message  about  setting  trends    via    our traditional crafts.  The Show will focus on creating awareness about Slow/Fair /Sustainable Fashion    by   showcasing   trendy   ensembles  created   through   the fusion of sustainable fabrics, traditional techniques and modern designs.The Show was attended by the International Delegation and students of NIFT. The en devour was also to orient the budding designers towards Fair Fashion and how it treat people and planet fairly the show also endeavored to bring artisans to the forefront it was supported by Ministry of DoNER and Ministry of textile along with Go-coop. Embassies of Bulgaria, South Africa and Vietnam and their ambassador  show cased the support by walking the ramp and sporting Fair Trade apparels and accessories.

We would also like to thank and appreciate the efforts and  gestures of Exim Bank, NSDC, Taneira, NIFT Delhi, and Hand Crafted in India for making this show create success. Read More

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Over 25 topics under the theme ‘Fair Trade – a path to sustainable development’ were discussed and presented, including the improved WFTO Guarantee System, which is not only a Fair Trade compliance tool but also a development tool for sustainable development.

Conference participants rated the conference with a 4 out of 5 score, 5 being extremely useful to their work or business. Participants were happy and satisfied in areas, according to the overall result of the conference experience survey. The feedback we received will help us organise the next conference even better.

We are thankful to our co-organiser Fair Trade Forum India. Your help and support allowed us to run the whole event from start to finish with ease and efficiency.

The opening ceremony is always a notable part in every conference. The Delhi conference is no exception.

WFTO President Rudi Dalvai welcomed the participants and introduced the conference title ‘Fair Trade, a Path to Sustainable Development.’ In his welcome message, Rudi said that the WFTO Conference has become one of the most important international Fair Trade meetings where issues are debated and ideas exchanged. He said the title was chosen to reflect the current aims of Fair Trade, which are congruent with the
sustainable development goals (SDGs). He cited the daily themes as reflecting the important topics and conversation that fair traders should address, such as ‘Fair Trade Responses to a changing market environment’ and ‘Trading you way to sustainable development’ (Fair Trade as a tool for development).

Representing the conference host and co-organiser, Mallikarjuna Iytha welcomed guests and participants. The opportunity to host has allowed them to showcase Fair Trade in India and their contribution to the global growth of the movement.

This year’s edition is the 14th in the biennial series. Looking back at the humble beginnings, Kuppusamy Panchaksharam a.ka. Panchu of SIPA Fair Deal Trust showed a photo presentation of the previous WFTO conferences. He was proud to have never failed to attend all of them. For each slide, Panchu shared his personal recollections, which became warm and sentimental reflections highlighting the evolution of the WFTO biennial conferences.

The traditional opening ritual is the centrepiece of the whole programme. Representatives of WFTO and host organisation Fair Trade Forum India, together with keynote speakers took part in lighting an oil lamp, an Indian customary rite held before an important activity. It symbolises wisdom, knowledge and prosperity.

The keynote speeches followed after the ceremony.

Read More

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Venue: Delhi-NCR

Come celebrate the spirit of Fair Trade 

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