6 - Fairtrade Goals

Starter
Cut up the text of Alfred Butao’s story (Kasinthula Sugar Growers). In groups students have to put it back together again in the correct order. This can also be done in larger groups with different stories where each student is given a piece of the text and they have to arrange themselves into the correct order before reading it out to the class. Ask students to tell you how Fairtrade has benefitted Alfred. What was life like before? 

Main Activity
Write the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) onto the board. Ask the class whether they have heard of them before and what they think they are. Explain that in 1990 the UN agreed on these 8 aims to be achieved by 2015, with specific targets for each. These will then be reviewed, and new targets established.

Look at the ways in which Fairtrade links to the 5 Millennium Development Goals outlined on the worksheet and discuss them with the class.

In pairs or groups students then attempt to identify possible links for the remaining 3 goals.

1. End Poverty and Hunger
(Fairtrade directly improves the lives of producers through ensuring a fair minimum price and the Fairtrade premium which is used in the community to promote development. Traidcraft’s mission is to 'fight poverty through trade' There is a direct link between poverty and trade)
2. Universal Education
(Fairtrade offers opportunities to producer groups to provide training for farmers in organic and sustainable farming practices as well as ensuring that farmers earn enough money to send their children to school) 
8. Global Partnership
(Fairtrade is concerned with creating partnerships of equals. Trade is an important mechanism for combating poverty)

In groups students are given card of 8 different colours and cut them into the shapes of footballs (one for each development 'goal'). Students record each MDG and add an explanation of the links between the MDG and Fairtrade. They then read through the producer stories and producer group profiles of Apicoop, Kasinthula, Agrocel and Anapqui, identifying evidence of the ways in which Fairtrade in the 4 different countries has promoted each MDG and adding this to their 'footballs'.

Their footballs can then be used on a 'goal display'.

Plenary
Students think of ten words related to Fairtrade and the Millennium Development Goals. They then swap with someone else and try to identify the different ways in which the words are linked. For example, producers are linked to Fairtrade because it benefits them. Fairtrade is linked to poverty because it enables producers to work their way out of poverty.