9 - Debating Fairtrade Sugar - Citizenship

Starter
Look at the Kasinthula and Craft Aid producer group profiles as well as some of the Kasinthula producer stories. Make a list with the class of some of the people involved with sugar production e.g. Fairtrade sugar farmers, supermarkets and shoppers. (N.B. Older classes or more able groups could add additional stakeholders such as independent sugar farmers, sugar packing factories etc.)

Main Activity
Write each heading on a large piece of paper. Working with the class fill each sheet with information about the people/organisations thinking about the following questions:

• What do they do? 
• How important is Fairtrade to them? Why? 
• What’s the difference between Fairtrade and non-Fairtrade sugar?

Divide the class into groups and give each group a role to consider. Working in pairs pupils have to decide whether they are for or against Fairtrade and why.

Either undertake as a class or split the class into 6 groups, each group with representatives of all roles. Pupils then role play the people involved with sugar production, giving children the opportunity to explore different perspectives and feelings concerning the unequal division of resources. This can culminate in a whole class debate about whether all sugar should be fair trade or not.

Plenary
Use a washing line in the classroom to peg up the different organisations/people involved in the trade process and then ask students to peg up ways in which they are linked (e.g. shoppers buy Fairtrade sugar which is grown by farmers in Malawi).

As an extension excercise, some pupils may want to write a speech explaining why Fairtrade is a good/bad thing for sugar farmers and packers.