Curriculum Links
This lesson plan has links to Curriculum aims and programmes of study in Citizenship, Geography and History.
Learning Objective
To explore the different aspects of Fairtrade
Learning Outcome
To question and analyse different values, ideas and viewpoints on Fairtrade.
Resources Needed
A3 paper, art materials, producer stories and producer group profiles.
Starter
Split the class into two teams and ask them to stand in two lines. Draw a line down the middle of the board and present whiteboard markers to the head person of each team. Set the title of Fairtrade and explain that each team has to write as many words as they can think of to do with the subject. Only one student can write at a time. They then give the marker to the next student in line and take their place at the back. Award one point per word/phrase. The team with the most points wins.
Students must not copy the other team! If you see that a word/phrase has been replicated then the team that wrote it first gets the point.
Main Activity
'Fairtrade is very important for the different aspects it covers, from social to economic and ecological.' Gregorio Mamanti, Anapqui.
Show the photo of Gregorio on the interactive white board and write his quote on the board. Ask the class what they think it means. Explain that Gregorio is in charge of organic certification at Anapqui’s quinoa plant in Bolivia. This means that he has to ensure that every farmer is meeting the criteria for the environmental requirements of Fairtrade. He is also a farmer and member of one of the smaller co-operatives which operated under the Anapqui banner.
Ask students for some examples of the different 'aspects' of Fairtrade. (e.g. social, economic, environmental, moral, political, historical) Draw a Fairtrade 'wheel' on the board (see template) and think of some examples as a class to go beneath each aspect.
Social: Supporting communities in poorer countries to develop; farmers and producers work together in co-operatives; parents are able to send their children to school.
Economic: Producers get a fair price for their commodities and are not exploited by middlemen or big businesses; producers are able to pay for improvements to their homes and support their families.
Environmental: Many Fairtrade goods are organic which means they are better for you; to become Fairtrade certified, producer groups have to meet strict environmental standards including not using chemical fertilisers.
Moral: It’s unfair that many farmers in poorer countries and their families live in poverty and aren’t given a fair price for their commodities. Everyone in the world should have equal opportunities in education, but if farmers can’t pay for their children to go to school this doesn’t happen.
Political: Poorer countries are at a disadvantage to richer ones when it comes to making the laws of trade because they don’t have the power. The World Trade Organisation is heavily influenced by countries like the USA or the UK so poor countries can suffer. Rich countries want to export all their surplus goods to poorer countries to make more money. Because of the trade laws poor countries find it hard to stop this, or charge import taxes. This means that farmers in poor countries have to compete not only with other farmers in their own countries but also farmers from other, richer countries as well.
Historical: Many of the countries who are classed as “developing” now were colonised in the past by European countries such as the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. Often a relationship has remained even though they are no long part of an 'empire - think of the countries in Africa where French and English are spoken. These linguistic and cultural links can be more binding than we guess, it allows the ex-imperial power a great deal of influence over the poorer country. Fairtrade can form the backbone for a positive connection, where both countries can benefit.
In groups students draw their own Fairtrade wheel (example below) and add their ideas to each 'spoke'. Distribute the producer stories and producer group profiles to the groups to read through. Students use the producer stories and factsheets to provide real examples for each aspect.
Around the edge of the wheel write an explanation of how each aspect is connected
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