quarterly return 63 spring 2007 fair trade is good news

TV presenter Gail Porter visited Gumitindo coffee co-operative in Uganda as part of a tour funded by Shared Interest Foundation. Photo courtesy of Fairtrade Foundation.

FAIR TRADE IS GOOD NEWS

QRQuarterly Return 63Spring 2007

Inside this issue

Record Lending to Producers

Fair Trade in North America

Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting

2006/07 Increasing social impact

Brand new look Welcome to our new look Quarterly Return. I do hope you like our new brand. Our team have worked hard to develop our new image to present a more modern look and clear messaging about what we do. We want to convey our ambition and plans for growth to increase our social impact and support our partners in the South in a more vibrant way.

I know it may seem very different for those members who have been with us since 1990 but we need to position ourselves for the future in order to support fair trade as it grows.

During January I was privileged to visit our US buyers with our Commercial Manager Ben Lilley. It was great to see Ten Thousand Villages celebrating their 60th anniversary and be reminded that fair trade has been around for many years but is only now receiving the profile it deserves.

The UK still remains a major driving force for fair trade but the US consumers are starting to be more aware of the social impact fair trade can have. The profile is growing rapidly both in the United States and the United Kingdom which is why it is so important for Shared Interest to grow to keep pace with the increased demand for funding

Back in the UK I am delighted to be able to tell you that we received a commendation from the ACCA for our first time social accounts. This is a huge achievement for the team as there were 87 applicants in total, many very large organisations, and only six awards. We remain committed to producing social accounts every year.

Fairtrade Fortnight seems to have been an even bigger success this year. Our Foundation funded a trip by Gail Porter to Uganda and for the first time provided producer training on behalf of another fair trade organisation.

I hope those of you who joined us for the Members’ Day and AGM in March enjoyed it and hopefully we look forward to seeing even more of you next year.

Patricia Patricia Alexander Managing Director

page � QR63 Spring �007

Patricia Alexander introducing the new branding at the Members’ Day.

Oxfam uses Shared Interest to train African producers Shared Interest Foundation passed a major milestone when it delivered training for African producers on behalf of Oxfam Belgium.The business and financial management course held in Shared Interest’s Nairobi office was the first time that training developed by the Foundation had been used in collaboration with a fellow fair trade organisation.

Tracy Bonham, Projects Manager, said: “The fact that Oxfam Belgium asked us to do some training for them is a massive vote of confidence in the quality of what we provide, just two years after we launched. This course shows how fair trade organisations can work together and draw on each other’s expertise to benefit producers.”

During the four-day training programme, the Foundation took the lead in teaching handicraft producers how to manage their finances effectively while Oxfam Belgium focused on training in product development.

Andrea Wilkinson, the Foundation’s Project Leader, said: “All the feedback we received was overwhelmingly positive. The producers really appreciated the chance to learn together and develop new skills that will assist them in running their businesses for the benefit of the thousands of producers who depend on them for a living.”

There were 16 participants from eight producer organisations: Prescraft (Cameroon), CraftAid (Mauritius), Getrade and Attag from Ghana, Dezign Inc (Zimbabwe), Mikono (Tanzania), Bombululu and Undugu from Kenya.

Amelie Meurens of Oxfam Belgium said: “It’s amazing that we now have this partnership as it is so hard to find a partner organisation to provide quality training that comes from the same perspective as us. I feel that Shared Interest Foundation has the same values as ourselves and truly understands our producers.”Shared Interest Society Ltd is a financial co-operative. It uses the pooled investments of its members in the UK to effect real and lasting improvements to people’s lives in poorer parts of the world.


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Shared Interest Foundation is a British-based international development charity whose mission is to support disadvantaged producers in using fair trade as a sustainable solution to poverty. It is the sister organisation to Shared Interest Society Ltd.

Shared Interest

� Cathedral Square, Groat Market

Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1EH

Telephone: 0191 �33 9100 Fax: 0191 �33 9110

www.shared-interest.com

Quarterly Return is the newsletter of Shared Interest. Shared Interest Society Ltd is registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies, number �7093R. Shared Interest Foundation is registered with the Charity Commission, number 110�375. The views expressed in QR are not necessarily those of the Society or Foundation. QR is edited by David Parker and printed on recycled paper.

Current Interest Rate

from 1 March 2007: 1.25%

The Directors decide on what the interest amount will be, if any, after the end of the financial year when financial results for the past year are known.



Foundation Project Leader Andrea Wilkinson with some of the participants on the Oxfam/Shared Interest training course.

AFRICA

Media spotlight shines on Shared Interest Customer TV presenter Gail Porter met coffee producers from Shared Interest customer Gumitindo Co-operative during a visit to Africa to publicise Fairtrade Fortnight.

Shared Interest Foundation funded the media tour (organised by Fairtrade Foundation) as part of its commitment to support and strengthen the fair trade movement.

Gail’s trip to eastern Uganda secured significant media coverage for fair trade and the benefits it brings to Gumitindo’s farmers. Shared Interest has loaned funds to Gumutindo Co-operative for the acquisition and renovation of a coffee warehouse and offices.

Gumutindo Co-operative comprises six village-based organisations located on the high, lush slopes of Mount Elgon. Gumutindo, which means ‘excellent quality’ in the local Lugisu language, aims to enable members to provide a reliable supply of the highest quality coffee in order to command better prices.

Gail visited the home of co-operative treasurer Oliva Kishera in Buginyanya. Oliva, like thousands of others in Uganda, is a smallholder coffee farmer who cultivates, harvests and processes coffee on her ‘shamba’ or plot (typically the size of an average UK back garden). She is proud to use organic farming methods.

Gail was shown how to harvest, process, dry and weigh coffee beans on Oliva’s farm during which time she got to know other members of the Kishero family including her husband Joseph and their seven children.

Gail saw for herself how each village has between one and four protected water sources but no piped water and she helped the family carry the water they needed.

With the additional income from fair trade, Oliva has been able to pay for her children to attend school, providing them with opportunities she did not have. She told Gail: “I want my children to be educated, as I want them to have more opportunities and a better future. Being able to educate my children is one of the biggest achievements of my life.”

Africa - Equality in Fair Trade


Oliva added: “Fair trade has encouraged the participation of women in our organisation and now women’s voices are recognised at all the Gumutindo meetings. There are even more women than men in the Gumutindo team. Fair trade has helped make the dreams of women come true.”

Oliva is now the treasurer of the Gumutindo co-operative. This is a really big step for Oliva and women in her region as, traditionally, men dominated positions of power. Oliva was the first female to sit on the Gumutindo board, and today the board has equal male and female representation.


Photo: Gail Porter feeding freshly picked coffee cherries into the pulping machine on Oliva’s Kishero’s farm with Oliva’s children Frederick (12) and Fiona (14). Photo courtesy of Fairtrade Foundation.

Africa - Equality in Fair Trade

Shared Interest’s investment in fair trade in developing countries is at record levels. David Parker highlights some examples of recent lending.

Kavokiva, Ivory CoastCooperative Agricole Kavokiva de Daloa has become the first producer group from Francophone Africa to apply for credit from Shared Interest for many years. This new customer is the direct result of Shared Interest’s presence at the SIAO international craft fair held in Burkina Faso in November �006 (as reported in QR6�).

Kavokiva is a cocoa marketing co-operative with some 6,000 members. It has been exporting directly since �00� and has an impressive international customer list despite operating in a politically unstable country that has been damaged by civil war. The co-operative achieved Fairtrade certification in �006 (as part of a capacity building project led by Transfair USA) and has managed in just one year to migrate 70% of its commercial export orders to fair trade orders.

Shared Interest was delighted to approve a credit facility for this producer co-operative. Its entry into the fair trade marketplace offers significant financial and social rewards.

www.kavokiva.com

World - Fair Trade Investment

Photo: Small holder farmer with newly harvested cocoa pods. Photo courtesy of Transfair USA.




Coopecanera, Costa RicaSugar producers’ co-operative Coopecañera is using a long term loan from Shared Interest to improve the environmental performance of its refinery. The 30-year old sugar refinery is owned collectively by some 5�0 producers in the San Ramon area of Costa Rica.

The loan will be invested in measures to reduce smoke emissions and in a new water treatment system. The co-operative is hoping to achieve the international environmental quality standard ISO 14000. Then it aims to go for full organic certification.

Coopecañera is one of the many success stories of fair trade. Less than eight years ago all of its exports were to the US and were subject to a quota system. Since it was awarded Fairtrade certification in 1999 it has been building up sales to the European fair trade market. When Coopecañera became a Shared Interest customer in 2004 fair trade accounted for 8% of exports, now it has risen to 14%. In common with other fair trade commodities, there is a minimum price set for fair trade cane sugar, and this gives a level of security to producers.

Proagroin, Costa RicaCosta Rican pineapple growers have boosted the quality of their produce after opening a refrigeration and packing plant using a Shared Interest loan (reported in QR60).

Proagroin, based at Guancaste in the north west of the country, is a major supplier of fair trade pineapples to large UK supermarket chains including Tesco and Waitrose. The new refrigeration plant enables Proagroin to slow down ripening of the picked fruit which means time can play its part in developing a sweeter, fuller flavour.

www.proagroin.org



UCPCO, NicaraguaUCPCO (unión de cooperativas agropecuarias de producción de café orgánico) is a marketing co-operative for six producer co-operatives representing a total of 170 coffee farmers.

The co-operative supplies high quality organic coffee for the specialist coffee market. Some 85% of its exports are to fair trade buyers. It is very committed to quality and uses a local laboratory to conduct quality checks before shipments are dispatched to buyers.

The co-operative maintains the loyalty of producers by paying high prices and making advance payments. This makes cash flow very difficult, especially during the harvest and processing season from October to February. UCPCO is forecasting a very significant growth in sales in �007 and this will put further pressure on cash flow. Shared Interest is providing credit facilities to enable the co-operative to continue to make advance payments.

Contigo, GermanyShared Interest has increased the credit facility of Contigo by a third, in response to the continuing growth of this important German fair trade importer. Contigo imports a wide range of handicrafts and some foodstuffs (notably coffee and chocolate) which it wholesales to its 10 franchise shops and to other world shops in Germany. In a revival of an old German tradition, the franchise shops all have coffee roasting facilities and coffee is roasted on the premises to individual customer’s orders.

www.contigo.de

Epona, UKPromotional clothing supplier Epona is using its Shared Interest credit facility to smooth the cash flow rollercoaster caused by the booming demand for fair trade clothing. Epona was one of the first UK companies to make clothing from Fairtrade certified cotton and it has been very successful at building sales in the music, charity and student markets.

www.eponaclothing.com

Undugu, KenyaShared Interest has approved a long term loan to one of its oldest producer customers to help complete a major building project. The Undugu Society of Kenya has been using Shared Interest’s services since 1999 and has helped to pioneer new financial products.

Undugu is a large charitable organisation whose primary objective is to help street children. It runs four schools based in the slums of Nairobi where children from all backgrounds can learn skills such as carpentry, sheet metal work and tailoring. Health classes raising the awareness on Aids and HIV are also provided.

Shared Interest works with Undugu’s Export Unit which markets the products of some 8,000 traditional craftspeople. Not all of this work is exported. Last year, with help from a Shared Interest loan, Undugu opened a shop in one of Nairobi’s smartest shopping malls (reported in QR60). Now Shared Interest is lending money to help complete Undugu’s most ambitious project yet. Undugu is building a new five-storey premises on a site it has owned for many years in the prosperous Westlands area of Nairobi. It will use one floor as offices and a shop and will rent out the rest of the space. It has been successful in raising the majority of the finance needed from donations, grant funding and a bank loan, and it already has



Mens black T shirt – the top selling item from the Epona range.



prospective tenants lined up. The loan from Shared Interest completes the finance package. Construction work is underway, and Undugu hopes to be occupying the premises by the end of �007.

www.undugukenya.org

Mpanger Growers Tea Factory, UgandaSmall holder tea farmers in western Uganda are using a Shared Interest loan to buy a tea estate formerly owned by the government. Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Ltd, which is owned by some 600 tea farmers, has been steadily increasing production and fair trade exports since it was established in 1995.

The company is buying the land of the nearby Kasunga tea estate which was run by the state-owned Uganda Tea Growers Corporation. The corporation is being restructured and the government has offered some of its property for sale giving priority to small holder tea factories. Mpanga has been renting about a third of the 400 hectare estate for several years which produces very high quality green leaf. The purchase of the land will save rent and ensure continuity of supply.

The Kasunga estate also includes 166 hectares of forest which is used for fuel and a purpose-built training centre as well as land that could be used for further development. The training facility is self sustainable and will provide Mpanga with an opportunity to diversify and earn extra income.

www.fairtradedirect.com/mpanga

Photo: Mpanga tea growers in western Uganda

North America vital to growth of fair trade Strengthening relationships with some of the world’s biggest fair trade buyers and networks was Commercial Manager Ben Lilley’s mission on a visit to North America.

Four weeks, fifteen fair trade organisations. The result – a stronger understanding of the role of Shared Interest and fair finance in supporting producers to improve their lives.

Fair trade organisations such as Ten Thousand Villages, Equal Exchange Inc and SERRV place orders worth millions of pounds with producer groups across Africa, Latin America and Asia every year.

They are also Shared Interest customers and a vital link in the fair trade supply chain that enables communities in developing countries to earn a better standard of living than the world of commerce would ever afford them.

“For us to make the biggest impact we can in the places where it matters, it is vital that we are aligned with the business strategies of the organisations that bring fair trade produce direct to consumers.” says Ben.

“Having spent a month meeting well established and new customers face to face, I can safely say that there is a real understanding of the value that Shared Interest brings to the relationships between buyers and producers.”

“Fair trade in North America is growing very fast – even if the size of the USA and Canada means that the fair trade logo is not as widely recognised as it is in the UK.

“We want to lend more directly to producers but we are well aware of the key role that buyers – and our relationships with them – play in bettering lives.”

Breakdown avertedOne concrete benefit from Ben’s work was averting a breakdown in business between a major commercial retailer on America’s west coast and a fair trade handicraft producer based in Kenya which borrows from Shared Interest.

He says: “For a number of reasons, it was clear that the retailer was

N. America - Growth of Fair Trade

page 1� QR63 Spring �007



Ten Thousand Villages’ shop at New Hamburg, Ontario.

about to stop buying from our producer customer.

“Because of our relationship with a major fair trade buyer, I was able to secure a meeting with a senior vice-president at the retailer and explain the importance of sorting out these issues to people on the ground in Kenya.

“As a result, the vice-president actually flew to Kenya for a meeting with their handicraft supplier and also met with eight other producers, offering them the chance to showcase their products to a big retailer in the world’s richest country.

“I think this demonstrates how Shared Interest can make a real difference.

“The vast majority of people I met value what we do. Some people didn’t really understand who we are but I was able to explain to them just how essential our role is in the fair trade movement.

“As a result, I anticipate that more and more producers will be directed to us by their buyers and that gives us the opportunity to increase our impact in developing countries.”

ItineraryBen Lilley’s itinerary involved meetings with the following fair trade organisations:

World of Good (San Francisco)

Transfair USA (Oakland, California & Washington DC)

Eccobella (Newark, New Jersey)

Ten Thousand Villages USA (Akron, Pennsylvania)

SERRV International (New Windsor, Maryland)

Ecologic (Boston, Massachusetts)

Equal Exchange Inc (Cambridge, Boston)

Red Tomato (Cambridge, Boston)

Forestrade (Battleborough, Boston)

SERRV International (Madison, Wisconsin)

Ten Thousand Villages Canada (New Hamburg, Ontario)

La Siembra (Ottawa)

Transfair Canada (Ottawa)

Fair World Sports (Ottawa)

Oxfam Quebec (Montreal)

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New coffee roasting equipment at Equal Exchange Inc at Cambridge near Boston.



New Fair Trade chocolate launched in USDivine Chocolate Ltd, the farmer-owned fair trade chocolate company that has been so successful in the UK, launched a sister company in the US with headquarters in Washington DC in February 2007 (on Valentine’s Day of course).

Divine Chocolate Inc uses the same business model as the UK company which gives Ghanaian cocoa farmers a significant (38%) share of the company, a meaningful input into decisions about how Divine products are produced and sold, and a share in any profits.

“Launching a US company was a logical next step for Divine,” says Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate Ltd. “This pioneering business model gives small scale Ghanaian cocoa farmers ownership, empowerment and income.”

One of Shared Interest’s US customers, SERRV International, has invested in the launch of Divine Chocolate Inc.

www.divinechocolate.comwww.kuapakokoogh.com

New leads from Fair Trade labelling team Ivory Coast cocoa producer Kavokiva has become a Shared Interest customer thanks to leads provided in a meeting with Transfair, the organisation responsible for fair trade labelling in North America (equivalent of the UK’s Fairtrade Foundation.)Ben Lilley met Transfair’s Head of Certification and its Global Producer Service Team during his North American trip.

Ben says: “The importance of our links to key networks like Transfair can’t be overestimated. As a result of our meeting Transfair is now providing leads enabling us to contact producer groups we have not worked with before.



The FAIRTRADE Mark used in USA and Canada.

Comfort Kumeah of Kuapa Kokoo co-operative in Ghana speaking at the launch of Divine chocolate in Washington DC. Photo © Divine Choclate Inc.

Success and challenges There was a record attendance at Shared Interest’s Members’ Day and 17th Annual General Meeting held on 24 March 2007 in London when 13� members, staff and guests packed into the Resource Centre in Holloway Road and 1,3�8 (16% of the membership) took part in the postal ballot. David Parker reports.

New look, same visionManaging Director Patricia Alexander used her first presentation to Shared Interest members to introduce the new branding of the organisation. The aim was to present a more modern image that conveyed Shared Interest’s ambition to grow and increase its social impact, she said.

Although the branding was new, she continued, the vision - of achieving real and lasting improvements to the lives of disadvantaged producers, particularly in poorer parts of the world, by providing fair and just financial services and sharing risk – remained the same.

Her presentation also included a look at the highlights of the last year, the key financial results and the impact of the Foundation. During the year Shared Interest had established a strong presence in East Africa and Central America and this had been one of the main factors contributing to the spectacular increase in lending directly to producer groups. Shared Interest had also moved into new offices in Newcastle upon Tyne which had resulted in a more efficient working environment.

Last year’s financial performance was very encouraging. With a record level of lending to fair trade organisations (£�3.1m), only £36,474 was written off as bad debt. Shared Interest made a small profit compared with a loss in the previous year. Patricia explained that the profit on lending had been reduced by unfavourable exchange rates from US dollars to £ sterling, but the Society had now introduced measures to reduce this impact. She predicted a slightly increased profit in the current year.

Patricia emphasised the necessity of increasing membership and investment, and this was taken up by members in questions. “With an ageing membership this is a delicate subject,” said Patricia. “Last year we recruited 336 new members but our net membership only grew by 48 because of the number of accounts closed.”

UK - AGM and Members’ Day




She said that the new branding and the ambassador scheme would be key tools in the drive to increase membership. “The fair trade market is doubling every two years, and we aren’t. That must change.”

Thank you Shared InterestThe presentation on the work of Shared Interest Foundation made innovative use of video interviews allowing members to hear directly from participants in the producer training courses.

Rosabelle Mutisya from Mango True Mirage in Kenya said “The way I see it, there are two ways of transferring wealth – we have aid and we have trade. When you do trade, your ego is boosted – it’s something that you have worked for. You’re not getting finances because someone is having pity on you. I would say thank you and keep up the good work.”

Rosabelle Mutisya

A record attendance by members.

International presence is new Business as usual The opening of offices in Central America and East Africa had been very successful said Commercial Manager Ben Lilley as he introduced Shared Interest’s two overseas executives, Hugo Villela and Rachel Ngondo. “Shared Interest’s international presence is now business as usual,” he said.He gave a quick update on developments since the last AGM when Rachel had just been appointed and Hugo had been working for Shared Interest for two months. Since then they had helped 19 producer groups make successful applications for finance and they currently had a further 38 applications ‘in the pipeline’.

Then Hugo and Rachel talked about their work. There were significant differences between the needs of producers in the two regions, but striking similarities in the social benefits that Shared Interest finance could bring.

In Central America Hugo had worked almost exclusively with farmers’ co-operatives although he had recently prepared a loan application for a group of 65 handicraft producers in El Salvador. In contrast most of Rachel’s contacts had been with handicraft producers although she had just successfully negotiated a loan for tea small holders in Uganda to buy a former state-owned plantation.

Answering questions by members, Rachel said that fair trade organisations were very aware of the problems faced by handicraft producers and the need for them to adapt to the changing demands of export markets. COFTA (the African fair trade association which has offices in the same premises as Shared Interest in Nairobi) is running a programme to encourage producer groups to work with designers. Hugo said there were similar problems in Central America, and some handicraft groups were diversifying into agriculture.

Both Hugo and Rachel gave examples of the impact Shared Interest is having. Hugo explained that many farmers would find it impossible to borrow money without security, and in Bolivia and El Salvador the local banks do not lend to agricultural businesses at all. Rachel described how a small credit facility of £5,000 for the Yatta South Women Group was making a huge difference to the lives of some �,000 basket weavers in Kenya. With a secure income and no need to borrow from local moneylenders the group was able to invest more money in education and community facilities.





AGM BusinessThe formal business of the AGM was conducted quickly and efficiently. All the resolutions were passed with almost total agreement. All members of the Board and Council due for election were appointed. The current membership is as follows:

Non-executive directors: Philip Angier (Moderator), Gill Dandy, Peter Freeman, David Nussbaum, Michael Walton, Carol Wills.

Executive directors: Patricia Alexander (Managing Director), Malcolm Curtis (Customer Services Director).

Council: Richard Butchart (Moderator), John Crowch, Kate Guggenheim, Jenny Hamilton, Florence Kirkby, Shweta Otiv, Stephen Sanders, Denis Stewart, Mary Willcox.

Shared Interest’s two overseas executives, Hugo Villela and Rachel Ngondo


page �0 QR63 Spring �007

Looking ahead Summing up at the end of the day, Philip Angier, the Moderator of the Board, identified four key issues for the coming year:

The investment in the ambassador scheme and in the new branding will stimulate growth in membership.

A further increase in lending to producers is very likely – there is a record number of applications in preparation.

The Board will be considering where and when to open another regional office, building on the success of operations in Central America and East Africa.

Shared Interest must keep moving forward, and a strategic review is underway to agree a clear route for the future direction of the Society and Foundation.

Philip Angier closed the day with the following challenge:

“This week we’re celebrating the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the UK and the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Although the European Union has contributed enormously to our prosperity and security, the European Commission is seeking to impose trading partnerships on developing countries which risk ‘enslaving’ them with restrictive terms of trade, and it imposes punitive tariffs on imports of processed food.

“So before we get excessively proud of our moral superiority over those who condoned slavery over �00 years ago, we need to take a look at what is being done in our name today. It’s perpetuating the oppression of the poor. And that is why your valuable commitment in Shared Interest is so vital, because you put your money where your values are.

“The staff of Shared Interest channel that money to people that don’t have access to fair credit and as a result lives are changing, children are being educated, and sustainable businesses are being created.

“Your money is showing that there is another way of investing for a fairer world. So, I’m going to give you all a challenge for the coming year: go out and get a new Shared Interest investor.”

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MIcrocredit decisionPhilip Angier, Moderator of the Board, writes: At this year’s AGM a member asked why we were not renewing our microcredit bonds, and why we were inviting members to invest their redemption proceeds in their share accounts with Shared Interest. Is Shared Interest no longer interested in supporting microcredit?

Your Board thought long and hard before deciding upon this policy, which we began to implement in �006. Here are the main reasons:

We recognise microcredit lending as a very effective means of helping individuals and communities out of poverty. However, Shared Interest’s main focus remains the finance of fair trade.

We introduced the microcredit bonds as a means of financing our investment in Oikocredit. This church-led international development finance initiative has been an important partner to Shared Interest since our earliest days. We invested in Oikocredit in our early years because we did not have the capacity to make direct loans to producers.

Two things have changed recently which have led to our decision not to renew the microcredit bonds.

We have invested heavily in our own producer lending capacity. Our first two regional offices are open for business. This investment is beginning to bear fruit and we need more members’ capital to support our growing loan portfolio.

Oikocredit, which was hitherto unable to promote itself to individual UK investors, has been developing a direct investment plan. Shared Interest will no longer be the only channel for those wishing to support Oikocredit.

In short, we are expanding our direct lending to producers, which is closer to our core mission. Members who convert their maturing microcredit bond proceeds into share capital are helping us to build the necessary resources to support this expansion.

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Glad to be randomStephen Sanders, Kate Guggenheim and John Crowch (from left to right) are the new members of Shared Interest’s Council, all selected at random. The founders of Shared Interest created the Council to provide scrutiny of the Board on behalf of members. To ensure that Council is representative and as a safeguard against the formation of cliques, six of the nine members are selected at random from the entire membership.

“The invitation to join the Council came out of the blue,” said John Crowch. “I didn’t know about the random selection, but I think it makes sense in a co-operative. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to learn more and to play my part.”


page �� QR63 Spring �007

Stephen Sanders, Kate Guggenheim and John Crowch (from left to right)

Social Accounts CommendedShared Interest scooped a prestigious commendation at the country’s top awards for social accounting in March.

The Society received its commendation for first time reporting in the UK Awards for Sustainability Reporting �006 run by the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The overall winner was telecoms giant Vodaphone.

The commendation was given for the Society’s first set of social accounts published in January 2006. It has since published a second



Pictured at the awards ceremony (from left) Peter Freeman, non-executive Director, Lis Dales, HR Manager, Tracy Bonham, Projects Manager, and Patricia Alexander, Managing Director.

First training for ambassadorsNon-executive director Gill Dandy ran the first dedicated training session for Shared Interest ambassadors on Sunday �5 March, the day after the AGM. Eight ambassadors from London and nearby took part in the four-hour session. Topics included: roles and responsibilities; giving presentations; working with the media; and networking. Ambassador Co-ordinator Phoebe Richardson said that the training went very well and that she was hoping to arrange sessions in other parts of the UK.

set of social accounts (for the year ended 30 September �006). A summary of this document was mailed to members in January 2007 and is available to download from the website.

www.shared-interest.com.

Ambassadors wantedDo you feel passionately about fair trade? Do you want to play a big part in the world’s leading fair trade finance organisation? Do you enjoy meeting and talking to people?

If you do, then why not become a Shared Interest ambassador?

The Ambassador Scheme is an exciting way to promote and become part of the team at Shared Interest. You can be flexible in your involvement – depending on how much time you want to commit, and how you feel you can best play a part in the scheme.

Raise awareness of Shared Interest and the fair trade movement

Encourage members of the public to join Shared Interest

Be the face of Shared Interest

If you would like to know more or to request an application pack, contact Phoebe Richardson, Ambassador Co-ordinator on 0191 �33 9135 or [email protected]

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Back to the birthplace of coffee A conference of coffee producers led Shared Interest’s Information Technology Manager John Grady back to Ethopia for the first time since finishing a VSO assignment. Here he gives a first hand account of his return to the country he called home for four years. I came back to the United Kingdom in �004 after completing a voluntary assignment as a statistics and IT consultant at the Ethopian education ministry in the capital Addis Ababa.

Shortly after my return I was employed by Shared Interest, taking responsibility for the Society’s computer systems - especially the databases we use to manage our relationships with buyer and producer customers across the world.

I maintained contacts with friends and former colleagues in Ethiopia over the intervening years and of course followed the country’s fortunes in the media. But having gained a more detailed understanding of fair trade and its place in tackling poverty in poor countries, I was keen to use my return to Addis to assess the impact fair trade can make in a country most famous in the UK for the 1985 famine that acted as a catalyst for Sir Bob Geldof and Live Aid.

I found Ethopia in much the same state as I had left it. It felt to me as though little progress had been made economically or politically since I had left three years before.

In many ways this was depressing. But what was inspiring was my first meeting with producers since I joined Shared Interest – and seeing how fair trade had made a positive difference to the lives of communities and individuals.

My meetings took place at the East African Fine Coffee Conference in Addis, my primary reason for joining up with my colleague Rachel Ngondo from our Kenyan office for the trip to Ethiopia.

This four-day event brought together hundreds of coffee producers and buyers from across the continent to do business and to discuss ways to safeguard and enhance the country’s coffee industry.

Ethiopia’s exports are almost entirely dependent on coffee, which accounts for the vast majority of the goods it trades with other countries.

Ethiopia - The benefits of equitable trading




As a result, the bulk of the country’s predominantly rural population is dependent on its coffee crops both for survival and to develop stronger community economies. The volume of fair trade coffee it grows is a small percentage of its total output.

But I was inspired to learn just how effectively coffee unions had been organised by their owners - the rural small holders - and how the joint efforts of small holder farmers were effective in growing, processing and packaging their products for external markets.

For those small number of farmers who benefit from a fair trade relationship, the additional income derived from minimum pricing and premiums has enabled communities to invest in water pumping stations, schools and other basic community facilities.

And the farmers’ system of co-operative ownership and shared facilities struck me as a great model for generating incomes in one of the most desperately poor countries in the world.

Currently, Ethiopian government regulations devised to prevent an exodus of currency from the country make it challenging for Shared Interest to work effectively as a lender to these farmers.

But there is clearly a need for lending at fair rates and we are investigating how we can take this forward. All in all, seeing at first hand how the farmers innovate and work together for mutual benefit was a truly uplifting experience.

I don’t know when I will have another chance to return to Ethiopia but I hope that I will get to see more coffee producers working within the fair trade marketplace – and benefiting from the extra resources that equitable trading brings.



Ethiopia was the first country in the world to cultivate coffee, nearly 1,�00 years ago, and the first to export what has become the most important agricultural commodity in the world. Today coffee exports contribute more than 60 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Over 15 million people in Ethiopia, mostly in rural areas, rely on coffee production for their livelihoods. The picture shows a farming family from a fair trade coffee co-operative in Oromia, Ethiopia. Photograph courtesy of Fairtrade Foundation, photographer Venetia Dearden.

FeedbackThis is your opportunity to express your views about Shared Interest and the work we are doing on your behalf, and to debate with other members.

Please write to QR Editor, Shared Interest, � Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1EH or email [email protected].

Please mark your letters ‘for publication’. Letters may be edited.

Feel-good accountsI felt a bit uncomfortable with the January mailing - QR62, Annual Review, Summary of Social Accounts, etc. I couldn’t easily find my way around, everything floating in feel-good language, undoubtedly solid achievements, but I had to put it in context and perspective.

The word ‘accounts’ in an annual review implies clear numbers in tables, not personal accounts in the sense of verbal prose descriptions. These two sorts of accounts should not be muddled up.

As a shareholder I want more focus and order and precision, at least once a year. Of course I like local colour too, but not exclusively. Maybe you just need more professional and critical editing.

Andrew Herxheimer, London

Editor replies:

The documents that members were sent are summaries. The full Directors’ Report and Accounts and the Social Accounts are available from our website (www.shared-interest.com) or from our Newcastle office. These quite lengthy documents do contain ‘focus and order and precision’.

Problems for handicraftsI was particularly interested in Ben Lilley’s comments on the handicraft trade in QR6�. The handicraft trade, whether in the West or the Third World, always strikes me as fragile and on the margins of long term viability for the craftspeople involved. The photograph of the shop of Wamunyu Co-operative graphically illustrates the problem.

It is therefore vital to “educate, provide new skills and knowledge on

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products that have a market in Europe and the States” - as he states. Producers will also continue to review and expand both their markets and the goods attractive to those purchasers.

This is presumably where the Shared Interest Foundation comes into play, and it’s vital to expand this work as much as your core activity.

J H Pickwick, Bristol

Say no to flowersJust a note to say that I would highly disapprove of your financing any African trade in cut flowers to be sent to Europe. This is because this activity is so environmentally unfriendly.

Judith Denton, Sawbrigeworth

Editor replies:

Shared Interest does not currently provide any financial services to producers or buyers of fair trade flowers. We have received similar comments on this topic from other members. However, one member sent information supplied by the Department for International Development that puts a different point of view. It argues that the growing and air freighting of roses from Kenya uses much less energy than growing them in winter in Northern Europe. So, the argument goes, if you insist on buying roses out of season it is better for the environment and better for international development to buy Kenyan fair trade roses.

USA behind in fair tradeHaving lived in the US for three years now, I have been amazed how far behind the UK they are in terms of both fairly-traded and organic retail products. There are a few niche companies offering ranges in one or other or both, and there are a small number of boutique retail outlets similarly offering fairly-traded crafts and arts, but in general the fair trade movement is yet to take hold here. It seems to me there is a general belief that free trade implies fairness through the mechanism of the markets, and in any case most consumers do not see fair trade as a plus point so it is not a strong marketing position for the sellers.As a result, there is an opportunity and a need right now to educate the general public on the benefits of fair trade, both social and sustainable


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economically. I am delighted that my local church’s Society and Community Committee is beginning to address the issue, starting with sourcing fair trade coffee for the post-service chin-wagging etc. It is reminiscent of the UK a decade or so ago. I’d love to hear ideas and suggestions from other readers on how to drag this contradictory nation into the �1st century.John Sims, Princeton, New Jersey

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QR is available in larger print. Telephone 0191 233 9100 for a copy or download from www.shared-interest.com

CommentSpeaking at the Members’ Day in London, our representative in Central America Hugo Villela said: “In the UK I think Shared Interest is considered a small organisation, but in the developing world it’s seen as a large financial provider. And the fact that the money comes from 8,400 individuals in the UK – people think this is amazing. Producers say to me ‘Shared Interest brings us hope’.”

It was startling and pleasing to be told about this different perception of the size and impact of Shared Interest.

How people perceive Shared Interest - and what we would like them to think - is at the heart of the corporate rebranding project.

The new branding (of which this issue of QR is one of the first examples) is the visible result of a process that has taken several years. The directors and management team, in consultation with members, customers, staff, fair trade organisations and others, have sought to achieve a common understanding of Shared Interest - who we are and what we do. This has involved examining our values and our vision, which is always a worthwhile exercise.

One element of the new branding is the strapline ‘investing in a fairer world’ which neatly says both what we do and what we aim to achieve. To make a good investment you need to have sound judgement, but you also need something else: hope. Hugo’s observation reminds us that hope is a currency common to both borrowers and lenders. It is both our members in the UK and the producers we lend to in developing countries who are ‘investing in a fairer world’.

David Parker, Editor

quarterly return 63 spring 2007 fair trade is good news

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