JTS Director, Joe Osman, Launches New Book
Nicola Taylor • September 3, 2020
Traidcraft – Inspiring a Fair Trade Revolution
It was a great pleasure to join JTS as a non-executive director last year. Having worked at Traidcraft and being involved in Fair Trade for nearly four decades it was good to stay involved. Traidcraft went through some difficult times in 2018 and almost ceased trading and the downsized new version of Traidcraft which emerged neither had a place for me nor was of any great interest to me, so it was time to leave.
I was encouraged by former colleagues to write something of my journey through Traidcraft which I joined in 1981 and, whilst never having written anything substantial beyond business papers and the occasional Traidcraft blog, I was reasonably positive that I could pull it off. It became very clear to me that the history and legacy of Traidcraft was something that deserved recording and, as I write in the introduction to my book ‘ Traidcraft – Inspiring a Fair Trade Revolution’, “I eventually concluded that I was probably the best, if not only, person to write something, given that I’ve lived and breathed the organization for much of my life.”
I met up with Richard Adams, Traidcraft’s founder, and he became a bit of a mentor during the process, reading the section covering his time there, and encouraging me to continue. In fact he was one of the few people who read the final manuscript. We agreed that getting contributions from others would be a sensible thing to do. So former work colleagues and folk from the wider Fair Trade world also contribute including suppliers, producers and all Fairtrade Foundation leaders since its inception. Richard also provides an epilogue to the book.
So what can people expect from the book? Well it’s inevitably autobiographical in nature, recounting Traidcraft’s history through my eyes and recounting some of my own experiences. It will inevitably be a bit too ‘technical’ for some given that I recount some of the ways in which Traidcraft’s model of Fair Trade evolved through the years and how policies changed and developed. It will probably result in the reaction “I never knew that!” especially in recounting stories about some of the key product developments that Traidcraft was involved with and recounting some of the background behind the development and growth of the wider Fair Trade Movement. I particularly enjoyed writing the chapter on Traidcraft’s journey and influence in Fair Trade tea which I was quite involved with and I also enjoyed the contribution from one of our close contacts at the Co-op who writes about the partnership that evolved between us in their journey to becoming probably the leading retailer of Fair Trade products. There may even be parts of it that some might disagree with or have a different version of events – although, as I write in the introduction, “History anyway is, in a sense, interpretive” so I’m more than happy to stick to my version! It will also cover Traidcraft’s origins as an organisation with Christian roots and mission and the challenges involved in that and I was particularly pleased to have a foreword contributed by the former Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.
‘Traidcraft – Inspiring a Fair Trade Revolution’ is published by Lion Hudson and is available from numerous online platforms. Amazon have paperback and Kindle editions. For those who might be boycotting Amazon, I’ve seen the paperback on Book Depository, Foyles, Hive and Wordery, and there are others who sell the digital version like Eden and Google Play. Then, of course, it’s available from Traidcraft online shop.
After six years of leadership, Mary Popple has retired from her role as Chair of the True Origin Board to assume the role as an ordinary board member. She leaves a legacy of steadfast, values-led leadership, resilience and commitment to Fair Trade during a period of significant transition for the social enterprise. First appointed to the True Origin Board in 2013, Mary became the first woman to take on the role of Chair in April 2019. Her journey into the position was shaped by a successful career in the IT industry and a passion for Fair Trade. Mary was an active member of the influential St Andrews Fair Trade group which successfully campaigned to designate the town as a Fairtrade area, and for The Open Golf championship to become the first UK sports tournament to commit to using Fairtrade products. This was complemented with over twenty years’ experience of involvement in other trade justice and development opportunities for women. During her six-year tenure as Chair of the True Origin board, Mary strategically led the social enterprise through a challenging external environment at a challenging time for many small businesses. Less than a year into her new role, the Covid pandemic emerged, causing significant uncertainty for staff, producers and customers as well as disruption in global supply chains. The war in Ukraine and cost-of-living crisis soon followed. Despite the challenges, under Mary’s leadership, True Origin generated over £2.3million in sales income that included £733,000 worth of Kilombero rice from Malawi. That’s equivalent to 245 tonnes or nearly 5 million servings of rice! The sale of the rice provides families in Malawi, one of the least developed countries in the world, with sustainable incomes and better food security. Mary played an instrumental role in rolling out the social enterprise’s rebrand and positioning the organisation as the go-to place for fair and fine products under the new True Origin banner. The product range subsequently increased during her tenure, solidifying True Origin’s reputation in the fine foods market. New products included a range of condiments such the soon-to-become both a customer favourite and one of Mary’s favourite products, sun-dried fig balsamic reduction as well as the popular beer bread of which over 150,000 packets were sold during her term. Mary’s leadership as Chair will also be remembered for her values-led approach, guiding the organisation to decisions with its founding fair trade principles in mind and the interests of producers always at the forefront. She invested time in expanding the board’s skillset and further developing the organisation’s robust governance procedures, upholding True Origin’s commitment to transparency with its stakeholders and leaving the organisation in a strong position to tackle future challenges. She also brought an instinctive knowledge of Fair Trade customers in Scotland and beyond to the role.
Our former Operations Manager and now volunteer, Liam McLaughlin caught up with Kenneth Mwakasungula on the challenges of being a Kilombero Rice farmer
R eflections on the recent visit of Howard Msukwa, Rice Farmer from Kaporo Smallholder Farmer Association (KASFA)
Jade and Nicola visit some of the Woman Farmer Foundation farmers to learn more about their crops and farming techniques and some of the challenges they face.
Nicola and Jade visit Eswatini Kitchen and the Woman Farmer Foundation.