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RELUFA
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Fighting Hunger
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In the pipeline: A documentary with stories from Cameroonian and Chadian communities
Ten years after the first steps for the construction work of the Chad Cameroon Oil Pipeline, RELUFA and its member organization the Center for the Environment and Development (CED) took stake of the impact of this highly acclaimed mega project on its host communities in both Chad and Cameroon.
Danya Abt filming an unfinished water point that served as community compensation for the village of Ndtoua |
Danya Abt, a young female documentary maker from Brooklyn, NY graciously volunteered to spend four months with RELUFA, traveling with a small network team from the terminal near Cameroon's coastal fisherman's town of Kribi in the West, across the mainland of Cameroon up North to the oil fields in the Chadian region of Doba. Professional photographer, Jerome Ming, joint this team and from all materials collected in this effort, RELUFA will produce resources that include a documentary DVD, a photograph booklet commented only by quotes from the communities, and a report. Meanwhile, RELUFA Coordinator, Valéry Nodem, and network volunteer, Brendan Schwartz from Boulder, CO co-authored an article about their experiences that has been published by various online news sources.
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Another Day in the Life of the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline
Valéry Nodem, RELUFA Coordinator
and Brendan Schwartz, RELUFA volunteer
If you’ve heard of Chad you probably haven’t heard anything good about it. Almost continuous war since independence and its involvement the Darfur conflict have gotten Chad nothing but bad press. One author called it “a neglected tragedy of a nation.” Chad is in fact a strikingly beautiful country and its people are as vibrant and diverse as any. But without a doubt, there is great human suffering. And as many people have noted, the discovery of black gold isn’t helping.
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The Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline Project, although relatively little-known to the general public, was for a time the source of fierce debate and high rhetoric in international development circles. The World Bank-financed project in the heart of war-torn Central Africa pumps 170,000 barrels/day of crude from Chad’s Doba basin to Cameroon’s Atlantic port city of Kribi, 1,080 kilometers away. Led by such corporations as Exxon and Chevron, the pipeline received plaudits from the World Bank as “an unprecedented framework to transform oil wealth into direct benefits for the poor, the vulnerable and the environment.”
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Nine years after the World Bank agreed to finance the pipeline, six years after oil went online, and just one year after the World Bank quit the project, Chad-Cameroon is slowly fading from the development spotlight. Earlier this month, the World Bank quietly released their own evaluation of the project admitting that the project failed to achieve its two main goals of reducing poverty and improving governance. One hopes this is not the World Bank’s final evaluation of the project since oil is scheduled to flow for another twenty years and the worst of the project’s impacts are just beginning to be felt.
An oil drill at Doba, Chad |
National Mourning and Broken Promises
For Chadian President Idriss Deby, oil revenues are a means to prolong abusive and undemocratic rule. He changed the constitution to become president for life, spent over 30% of Chad’s oil revenues on war, and used money destined for development in “priority sectors” to grant opaque, no-bid public contracts to God knows whom—all things he promised not to do.
It is little wonder that Chadian civil society declared the pipeline’s inauguration a day of national mourning. The World Bank’s public sector lending arms (the IDA and IBRD) announced their withdrawal from the project in 2008 stating “Chad failed to comply with key requirements” of their participation, though the World Bank’s private sector lending arm (the IFC) had no problem staying on board to reap the benefits of its $200 million commercial loan. Many promises were also made to people living in the oil-producing zone in the southwest of Chad.
Villagers were promised fair compensation for the loss of land expropriated by Exxon, employment with the oil companies for the life of the project, and 5% of oil revenues to be invested in their villages. According to local residents, these promises were empty.
While N'Djamena as the national capital of Chad has no electricity at all, the oil field region of Doba has abundant supply. |
In theory, everyone displaced by the project received some form of compensation, but rarely has it been sufficient to restore their standard of living. This is because Chad’s oil happens to be located a few meters below Chad’s most fertile agricultural land.
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A woman in the Bero village of the oil producing zone in Chad explained that Exxon had displaced her entire family and promised to build them new houses equipped with furniture and find them new land. Although new houses were built, the construction was so shoddy that Exxon was forced to return just two years later and rebuild them to avoid a major PR embarrassment. There is no furniture to be found. |
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The farming problem is especially serious since the zone is Chad’s only breadbasket and feeds most of the country. Exxon and the project planners claimed that compensations would be paid to displaced people, but that “self resettlement” would take place naturally whereby villagers would find/purchase new land for farming from a “village land pool.”
A recent Chadian report notes that this has not happened; many farmers have not found land or enough land. Agricultural production is continually declining and will ultimately penalize the entire country.
Apparently hoping to avoid paying too much compensation, Exxon has allowed many villagers to stay in the oil producing zone. Villagers often live precariously close to oil wells which turn round the clock. Increased banditry in the zone led the former governor of the Logone Oriental Province to instruct local police to “arrest or shoot on sight” anyone circulating through the zone after 6 pm. Now people living in the zone are literally surrounded by oil infrastructure and have become prisoners in their own homes. Almost every facet of their lives is governed by Exxon, the de facto local government.
Remnants of the oil spill near Keiro's hous |
Namarde Keiro and his family live within 500 meters of Exxon’s Operations Center and within twenty meters of an active oil well. As high voltage power lines tower over his home, Keiro’s family lives in what the World Bank calls “extreme poverty” with no access to clean water or electricity. On October 11 of this year, Keiro discovered an oil spill while returning home from his farm. He alerted Exxon employees who immediately cordoned off the area and “cleaned” it up before any outside observers could see the damage.
Exxon's backpack for Keiro |
The oil spill ruined Keiro’s fallow land, and so they decided to compensate him with a special gift: an empty Esso (Exxon’s operator) backpack. This was allegedly the fifth oil spill related to the project, yet was not reported by a single media outlet in or outside of Chad. If a journalist from the Associated Press made just one phone call to Exxon in Houston, Keiro likely would receive thousands of dollars of compensation within a week.
Employees of the oil consortium returned to Keiro's home on November 6th, 2009 with surveying equipment. Apparently they want to build a road which will pass two meters from the family's mud hut. According to local NGOs, Exxon's strategy is to make life so unbearable for local residents that they leave on their own accord with no compensation. It's working. |
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As for the 5% of oil revenues promised to residents of the oil-producing zone in Chad -it’s all being spent on so-called “Presidential Projects.” These are high-profile large infrastructure projects that Deby has gifted to the regional capital of Doba, more than a thirty-minute drive from the villages hit hardest by oil production. These projects, which include an already crumbling football stadium, are intended to win support for Deby’s party in the 2010 local elections and 2011 presidential election.
Enclaved by oil wells, the villagers of Mainkiri make do to ensure the basic educational needs. The school is at 100 meters from the nearest well. |
When asked if any of the 5% funds had been spent in his village, the Chief of Meikiri choked up with laughter before finally catching his breath to say “no.” That was Sunday. On Monday, Exxon began drilling an oil well just feet from the soccer field of his village’s elementary school. $74 million dollars have been spent in the oil producing zone on development projects according to the Vice-President of the committee managing the “5% fund.” Yet nothing is visible in the villages playing host to the project.
The greatest impact of oil in Chad has been felt not by the caged-in villages of the Doba Basin, but rather in the North and East of country where hundreds of millions of dollars of oil money has been used to purchase weapons for a war that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.
The oil for war and war for oil reality is deeply ingrained in Chad’s popular political consciousness. |
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In 2007, Chad spent 4.5 times more money on the military than it did on health, education, and other social spending combined. Despite the World Bank’s guarantee of a model framework for oil-led development, oil has continued to fuel war where civilians are the primary victims. The oil for war and war for oil reality is deeply ingrained in Chad’s popular political consciousness.
Danya and Brendan filming in Mainkiri |
When asked if he thought there was a link between oil and war in the country, Nadji Nelambaye, the coordinator of a Chadian
NGO, snapped “are you trying to provoke me?” He then launched into a passionate hour-long speech which 99% of Chadians would agree with. According to a recent International Crisis Group report, two of Chad’s high ranking ministers - who happen to be President Idriss Deby’s twin nephews - defected to the armed rebellion explicitly because of perceived misuse of oil revenues.
Chad has received a lot of attention and criticism related to its oil adventures. However, almost 900 kilometers of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline pass through that other country: Cameroon. Despite receiving minimal “transit revenues” from Chad’s oil, the pipeline’s social and environmental impacts are just a harsh reality for Cameroonians living along the pipeline route. 248 villages are directly impacted by the pipe, and dozens more by roads, operations centers, and employee living bases all built expressly for the project. Unlike in neighboring Chad, no oil revenues have been set aside for development spending in the affected villages. The Cameroonian government claims it only receives $25 million per year with some of that money returning to impacted villages via increased social spending in the national budget.
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But the truth is no one knows where the $25 million is spent (or if that’s in fact the true amount), and there is no accountability for the use of the revenues. Thus the accent of the debate in Cameroon centers on the (non)payment of compensation. The Environmental Management Plan (EMP), hundreds of pages of World Bank crafted policy jargon, required the oil consortium and Cameroonian government to pay all compensation before construction of the pipeline began in 2001. Today, Cameroonian NGOs have documented hundreds of cases in which compensation was never paid, partially paid, or paid in kind with shoddy materials:
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Mongotsoe Akam is a quiet grandfather living in the small village of Ebaka in Cameroon’s East Province. He has been a farmer his whole life and seems content to continue living the traditional village life.
During the pipeline’s construction, multiple subcontractors of the oil consortium were constantly buzzing around his home and farm. They were looking for laterite, a type of rock used to surface the unpaved roads the consortium built to transport materials and heavy machinery. Mr. Mongotsoe showed them the exact location of his laterite and negotiated a price for its extraction. Not only was he never paid for the use of his laterite, but he also was never compensated for the $50,000 worth of crops that were bulldozed to access the quarry. Mr. Mongotsoe politely waited until the pipeline construction was completed in 2003 to complain of his plight. When Exxon refused to pay, he asked an agricultural engineer from the Cameroonian Ministry of Agriculture to evaluate the damage to his land. Using EMP principles, the engineer’s report concluded Mongotsoe was owed a little over $50,000 and was sent to the director of Exxon’s environmental unit. Exxon later replied in a written notice that Mongotsoe’s claims documented by the Ministry of Agriculture are “not convincing” and “lack coherence.”
In September, 2009 the oil consortium finally offered to settle with Mongotsoe for a mere $600. When the man refused, an Exxon employee told two Cameroonian NGOs that Mongotsoe was trying to swindle the company since he knows they have tons of money.
Watch below Mr. Mongotsoe first express his grievances to RELUFA's team in April 2005.
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No place in Cameroon has been overrun by the pipeline as much as the coastal town of Kribi. Traditional Kribians wake up around 5 am and ready their wooden canoes for the day’s fishing expedition. As each day passes, they paddle farther and farther to catch fewer and fewer fish.
A lonely fisherman trying to catch where once the reef used to be the breeding place of fish but now gives passage for Chadian crude to be loaded onto an oil tanker |
That’s because one of the principal fishing reefs was dynamited to make way for the terminal of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, which is buried under 11 kilometers of seabed. Supertankers from around to world come to dock at the Offshore Loading Facility just off Kribi’s coast, fill up on Chadian crude, and then head off to Europe and the US. The Cameroonian coast guard and Exxon private security won’t let fisherman drop their nets near the Offshore Facility and routinely harass artisanal fisherman as commercial Chinese trawlers illegally overfish the outer waters with impunity.
In January of 2007, an oil spill occurred in Kribi. As fisherman reeled in their day’s catch, they couldn’t help but notice the distinctly black color of all their fish. Exxon claims the damage was minimal. No independent analysis has been conducted to measure the impact of the spill in Kribi, which is also Cameroon’s premier tourist destination. The damage the spill has done to Kribi’s artisanal fishers is incalculable because the oil consortium’s environmental baseline studies don’t include sufficient data on fishing. Beach-front villages have been given $4,000 each in additional compensation, which Exxon calls “bon voisinage”—being good neighbors—but without taking any responsibility for the collapse of Kribi’s fishing industry.
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The World Bank asked the government of Cameroon and Exxon to jointly publish an official “Oil Spill Response Plan” before the project became operational in 2003. The plan was “inaugurated” at Yaounde’s ritzy Hilton Hotel on November 3rd, 2009. A member of a prominent Cameroonian NGO which has been monitoring the project was barred from the event because “he didn’t have accreditation.”
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A few hundred kilometers away in the village of Dompta, unemployed youth watch as small airplanes land and take off where they used to farm—now Exxon’s private landing strip. Their individual compensation payments were spent years ago and now they have no livelihood. The Chief of Dompta signed a contract with Exxon for the construction of a health clinic as “community compensation.” When the health clinic wasn’t built, he wrote to the oil consortium demanding they follow through on their written agreement. One of Exxon’s directors cordially replied that the health center would be built and the village could use health clinics in neighboring villages until then.
Dompta’s chief died in 2007 and was replaced by his son as tradition requires. The new Dompta chief claims Exxon built a health center in Dompla (notice the difference in spelling), a village about 30 kilometers away and even proudly posted a sign that read “Dompta Health Clinic.” We will never know if this is a cruel joke or corporate idiocy because no one from the oil consortium has yet commented on the issue. For the people of Dompta, it doesn’t really matter. |
As America’s search for oil and gas intensifies on the African continent and is to comprise 25% of all US oil imports, Americans should be aware of the human/environmental costs of their continuing lust for black gold and the actions of their corporations. Bluntly put, oil in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Chad, Angola, and Sudan has further impoverished people at best and caused inestimable human suffering in many cases. Ghana, Mauritania, Uganda, Sao Tome and others have nascent industries which could become strategic in the search for the world’s least renewable resource.
The ultimate goal of international campaigning is to “leave African oil in the soil” and build stronger governance beforehand since the extractive industries almost never contribute to development. However, powerful interests are making that objective difficult. Thus the fight will for now be concentrated on policy improvements.
Here are a couple easy things you can do to influence policy and help prevent a repeat of the Chad-Cameroon debacle:
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Contact your elected representatives to support Senator Richard Lugar’s Energy Security Through Transparency (ESTT) Act S.1700. The bill would require energy and mining companies to reveal how much they pay to foreign countries and the U.S. government for oil, gas, and other minerals. The information would be included in financial statements that are already required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This would apply to both American and international companies listed with the SEC, covering a majority of the largest oil, gas and mining companies in the world. This bill is part of a large international campaign called the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
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Alert your elected representatives to the Human Rights Watch campaign to mandate that the US Export-Import Bank (ExIm) and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) require extractive industries companies who receive funding or political risk insurance from them to show that they have effective policies and procedures to address security and human rights, and give those companies the capacity to monitor compliance with those standards. Both ExIm and OPIC financed the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline.
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by Cathy Murphy, JH coordinator Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area
Mobilized by the worldwide Publish What You Pay coalition, over 150 activists from 50 countries met in Montreal last month to learn and strategize on resource revenue transparency. It was an inspiring gathering, from the opening blessing by Elder John Cree of the Mohawk Community of Kanesatake, to the Communiqué and picture at the end.
I participated in Montreal as the Chair of the Peace & Justice Task Force of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities. We are in partnership with the RELUFA network in Cameroon as part of the Joining Hands initiative of the Presbyterian Church. As such our Task Force is assisting in the lobbying effort to achieve passage of transparency legislation in the U.S by witnessing to the problems our partners face abroad and how corruption contributes to poverty and hunger. As a Presbyterian, I am committed to work on the root causes of poverty, and to address the ways in which corruption abets poverty. This conference provided an excellent “how to” forum.
Group picture of the PWYP conference participants . |
We began by looking at Canada’s extractive industry, which is home to 75% of the world's mining companies, operating in over 100 countries. At home, Canada has made improvements in its relations with indigenous communities; its 1982 Constitution mandates consultations with First Nations before industry licensing. This is inconsistent between provinces however, and does not apply abroad. Matilda Komo, Director of the Centre for Environmental Research and Development in Papua New Guinea, showed shocking pictures of the devastation caused in her country by huge Canadian mining operations, and told us of the effects on the population. A hopeful sign has been the introduction of Bill C-300, a bill that would strengthen standards in the human rights arena. Canada has already passed an anti-corruption and bribery act, but no cases have been brought to date.
Northern countries have an important role to play in setting a global standard. Canada is in the process of implementing the EITI, and the US congress is considering PWYP legislation. If these countries succeed, transparency legislation could more easily be introduced in other countries. We need to stress the benefits of these bills to energy security and the investment community, as well as to governance in resource-rich countries.
Several presentations covered successes and challenges: In Azerbaijan, the first EITI country, there are hopes of expanding transparency to the transportation, refinery, license and state expenditure arenas. Sierra Leone has instituted a Mineral Rights Task Force, and the government is considering many reforms, as well as incorporating research done by civil society groups in new legislation. The World Bank position (is it pro-people or pro-government?), weak capacity of governments to deal with emerging issues in the sector, and lack of focus and long-term commitment of civil society groups were mentioned as challenges.
Ian Gary of Oxfam explained that the principle of “free prior and informed consent” applies to the decision to extract as well as the relevant bidding process, and the contracts. This right encompasses both the right to know and the right to decide. In many countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, there are discrepancies between national and local laws, and often a lack of clarity as to who owns the resources in question. The right to know and decide, moreover, can be difficult to enforce in remote areas where there are no NGOs. Many countries, however, have signed WTO Agreement 169, and some countries (Liberia for example) have successfully used the EITI to obtain contract disclosure. The Hong Kong stock exchange is hosting a meeting on extractive industry rules, and Freedom Of Information (FOI) laws can be used by public interest law firms to find information.
We reviewed case studies showing different types of PWYP campaigns, and considered the various possibilities, from advocacy to partnering with government and/or acting as a watchdog over government. Then we learned about disclosure initiatives in home and host countries (Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative in the US, B C-300 in Canada, Philippines Freedom of Information Bills) and international financial conditionality and accounting standards. The IMF and World Bank are starting to use project benchmarks in their dealings with 57 resource-rich countries (IMF 59% and WB 19%) but still not requiring contract transparency (IMF 80% and WB 90% are non-transparent). The World Bank engages in very little to no discussion with civil society regarding transparency. However, the IASB (The Extractive Industries Addition to
the International Valuation Standards) task force will be putting out a discussion paper in early 2010, which will address potential accounting standards for private companies, and which will be open for comments.
PWYP Africa Coordinator, Marie-Ange Kalenga (center) and Joanne Lebert (right) of the University of Ottawa in conversation with another participant. Ms. Lebert is doing research on the impact of the extractive industries on women. |
Security of civil society activists has become an important issue, and Marie-Ange Kalenga, PWYP Africa Coordinator, explained the Africa regional approach to operationalize the strategy by appointing local focal points for protection and establishing memorandums of understanding with legal networks.
The last afternoon was devoted to training in website navigation as well as finding contracts and other information within publicly available information. We departed from Montreal with our heads filled with useful information and our hearts opened by all of the wonderful work being done by the coalition.
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Fair Fruit update
by Christi Boyd, JH Companionship Facilitator
Much has been happening to move our Fair Fruit project along.
In order to price their fruit so that farmers and dryers are compensated adequately, each needs to understand the costs involved in the production, which is why we sat down for a group meeting. In a context where few producers keep records of their inputs, and where there is not (yet) a standardized production process, this has proven an laborious and time consuming process.
Christi sits down with Fair Fruit farmers and dryers in Njombe to discuss Fair Trade principles |
During different visits to Njombé I have sat down with the eight farmers currently involved in the Fair Fruit project, first with individuals and later as a group. Our goal was to walk through the agricultural calendar for the different fruits to know what the farmers invests in their fields and what in turn they earn each cycle.
In working through the farmers' data, we were all shocked to learn that, with the intermediary sales prices and lost income due to lack of irrigation possibilities, one of the farmers actually lost about $500 over a period of three years, rather than earning anything on his hard work! So we also calculated his income if he were to have access to an irrigation pump and his losses turned into more than a couple of thousands of dollars of profits. Imagine if his income came mostly from Fair Fruit sales, because our dryers currently pay about 30% more for his papaya than the intermediaries! And so, irrigation was made a top priority for the next steps in our endeavors.
Much of the data still needs to be processed, and final decisions on pricing may only be taken later in 2010. But the farmers and dryers meanwhile work in a good accord to pursue the production of our Fair Fruit.
Fair Fruit farmers and dryers |
Having the farmers sit down with each other made them aware how their efforts would become more efficient if they organized some of the work together. Each of them individually, for example, travels a relatively large distance to buy manure as natural fertilizer and spends at least 30% of the purchase price on transportation of the manure. It was very quickly agreed that a collaborative purchase of the manure would considerably reduce costs as well as effort.
Group discussion helped the farmers agree on a standardized production method as starting point for cost calculations and price agreements. They further discovered that some had knowledge that others lacked. So they agreed to share their experiences, in particular how to produce and preserve new seedlings from papaya and pineapple, which some of them currently buy.
Contrary to all other dried fruit projects in Cameroon, RELUFA has decided to solely engage with farmers who have been victims of expulsions for the plantations of a transnational company in their town and have that way become marginalized producers.
As good neighbors, Fair Fruit farmers Flaubert Tanefo (r) and Victor Lemoufou(l) help each other out in the new fields they have established since their expulsion in 1999. Mr. Tanefo grows pineapple while Mr. Lemoufou farms both pineapple and papaya. |
We have Daniel, one of the very first fruit dryers in Njombé, work with the farmers to make an inventory of the different expulsions that have taken place over the years and the farmers that have been forced off their fields. He visits each of the families at their homes and records their current status: who has quit farming, who has still some land left for cultivation, who has started new fields? How much land do they cultivate and what do they grow? Do they farm organically or are they willing to shift towards organic production? This should eventually help increase the supply of fruit for the dryers to expand their volume if the Fair Fruit sales in Cameroon and abroad pick up, while remaining within our philosophy. The data base will also help organize people if any advocacy needs arise in light of RELUFA's larger Trade Justice program that focuses on the growing phenomenon of land grab in Africa.
Since June 2009 Daniel has at our request also been recording on a weekly basis the sales price of the different fruits between farmers and intermediaries. In this way we are establishing a database that should help all involved in the Fair Fruit project get an idea about the annual price fluctuations, and make decisions on the pricing of Fair Fruit as a Fair Trade product. It will also help the dryers decide together with our Trade Partners when are the most favorable periods for the processing of each fruit. This will eventually make the drying process more cost efficient.
Having visited our farmers now several times, it has become very clear that their production is limited by the lack of irrigation. Just as we started looking at this question a young American approached us asking whether we had an agricultural project for him to work in as a volunteer. Ben has since visited each of the farmers in their fields, assessed their irrigation needs and options, and will soon present his recommendations on irrigation pumps tailored to the needs of each individual farmer. Irrigation will not only stabilize the Fair Fruit project but greatly impact the farmers’ overall production and income. For example, with irrigation, organic pineapple is ready in 12 month time against 17 months without watering. As for papaya, without irrigation the production comes to a near stand still for about 5 months. During this time, the papaya sales prices are triple or quadruple of those during the regular season. Imagine how irrigation would increase their family’s income!
With hopes for a better future through Fair Fruit, Etienne Ngatcha has started anew an organic pineapple farm |
There are clear signs of hope that Fair fruit has installed in our farmers. Several of them have started new plots, designated for the organic production of their crop. Mr. Ngatcha, for example, spent most of his time and resources on legal battles in the courts after he lost six hectares of farmed land to the company in 1999. Part of this destruction was an experimental organic pineapple farm. He never since picked up again on his expertise in that field, even though he has shared his knowledge with a few younger farmers. During my last visit to Njombé, however, I learned that Mr. Ngatcha had for the first time in ten year started again planting field of organic pineapple on the one hectare of land that he owns. He planted the plants with interfalls to increasing the number of plants while ensuring a continuous production for our Fair Fruit project.
From the very beginning we have made sure that the packaging of our fruit complied wih FDA (Food and Drug Administration) requirements so that we would not have problems with the stringent inspections by the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture). Now that we have established that in the US as well as locally in Cameroon there is a market for our dried fruit, we are ready for the next step up for our packaging. We are close to finalizing negotiations on design and printing and are looking forward to presenting our new “look” in the next Newsletter.
Fair Fruit dryer, Jeanne d'Arc, participated in a promotional fair at the American School of Yaounde. As a result, the US Embassy commissary asked to sell our Fair Fruit in their store with mostly imported US foods. |
Yes, we pride ourselves in the high quality product we are offering as Fair Fruit. Nevertheless, we have been much surprised and are thrilled about the surging local interest from just a few promotional events. Many of our consumers have expressed appreciation for the presentation of the product and the high quality, re-sealable pouches. We are eagerly waiting for the new packaging to arrive so we can really go into full production and start fulfilling the demands to indeed renew the hope for our farmers and their community as a whole.
One of the characteristics of Fair Trade is the long term relationship with producers and the additional support this relationship provides. Our farmers have all become marginalized producers because they lost all their investments in the destruction of their crops for the plantations of the transnational company in their town.
Pierre Youpa and his children |
As a result they struggle with schooling of their children and health issues in their families. Pierre Youpa’s children, for example has since the start of the 2009-2010 school year been sent home three times for unpaid school fees. Learning about his difficulty, RELUFA provided him a CAP for Scholars loan through its Credit Against Poverty program. Mr. Youpa pays back his loan from the income of his organic papaya farm. He recently started planting a new organic pineapple field for our project. The children have expressed their happiness to not anymore feel the shame of being the only kids in class being sent home.
Not only is Fair Fruit a delectable food item, without any additives like sugar, sulfur, preservatives, etc. it is a truly wholesome snack: 
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a natural energizer for the sport enthusiast,
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a lean bite for a weight watcher,
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a healthy alternative for students.
These are ways for you to get involved:
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Looking for a birthday present for that person who seems to have everything? Why not give a tax-deductible Symbolic Gift Donation*?
Through Partners for Just Trade you now can give the perfect gift from the heart, that shows how much you care and helps support our farmers and dryers. A hand-made, personalized Fair Trade card with a description of the symbolic gift you've selected will be sent to the recipient.
Irrigation Pump: $50
Small farmers rely on rainfall to water their crops. Production of papaya comes to a near standstill during several months of the year. A simple, low-tech irrigation tool like a water pump will help boost the farmers’ yield during the dry season.
Click here to see the insert that will go with your personalized card and purchase here.
5 Bags of Organic Fertilizer: $25
Economic hardship initially led several of our farmers to organic farming. They since have realized the many advantages—for their health, environment and land’s productivity—of organic farming.
Click here to see the insert that will go with your personalized card and purchase here.
Electric Scale: $50
Our Fair Fruit dryers want to make sure you get each and every gram of the delicious fruit that you pay for. To ensure precision, the dryers use electric scales to weigh out the fruit portions for each bag.
Click here to see the insert that will go with your personalized card and purchase here.
 Electric Sealer: $75
To preserve the freshness of the dried fruit and prevent any outside contamination of the product after packaging, the fruit pouches are heat sealed with an electric plastic bag sealer.
Click here to see the insert that will go with your personalized card and purchase here.
Gas Tank: $50
The dehydrators used to dry our fair fruit are fueled by gas. A new group needs to purchase tanks of gas—a hefty startup investment. The gift of a tank of gas helps the women eliminate yet another start up expense for their new drying activity.
Click here to see the insert that will go with your personalized card and purchase here.
*A symbolic gift is a tax-deductible donation that goes toward the larger goal of working with our producers in a variety of different areas including business development, design support, material and equipment assistance, and sales promotion. Learn more at www.partnersforjusttrade.org/symbgift |
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Fair Fruit Farmer features on Fair Trade Calendar
Participating in a competition organized by the US Fair Trade Resource Network (FTRN), Partners for Just Trade, successfully entered pictures of RELUFA's Fair Fruit farmer, Pierre Youpa, and of one of its Peruvian artisans.
Both were voted among the top twelve photographs of producers to feature on the FTRN's 2010 calendar.
Produced by FTRN and the Fair Trade Federation, the 2010 Fair Trade calendar can be ordered online.
Make sure to get your copy and surprise your Fair Trade friends with one as a present.
Prices:
1 copy $14.95 per copy
2-9 copies $10.00 per copy
10-49 $9.00 per copy
50-99 $7.95 per copy
100+ $7.45 per copy
The full color 13.5″× 9.5″ calendar is professionally designed by worker owned design firm Design Action and printed on environmentally friendly New Leaf paper using earth-friendly printing processes thanks to union print shop Consolidated Printing. Order the calendar now! |
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RELUFA, BP 1003, Yaoundé, Cameroun, telephone +237 22 21 32 87
Copyright © 2008 RELUFA. All rights reserved.
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