Producer Covid-19 Support Update
Nicola Taylor • August 28, 2020
Update from Eswatini in their fight against the pandemic.
Here is the latest update from Eswatini and how they are spending the grant money raised by our kind and generous supporters to educate their employees about Covid-19 and the preventive measures they can utilise to keep themselves and their families safe:
"Sharing here with you is an image taken from our recent staff training we had with ESK's employees on the pandemic (Covid-19).
This training came about as Management realised that some employees may have fears in reporting sick or rather indicating that they suffer from flu-like symptoms in fear of being retrenched; Some companies within the country have negatively dealt with the pandemic creating hostility between employers and employees at national level.
We at WFF did not wish to have any of our staff or ESK staff silently suffering from any sickness as it firstly posed a danger to themselves and secondly to the entire company as a whole - due to this, WFF & ESK Management saw it fit to go through an intense staff training session on the signs and symptoms of Covid and further assure them that if they follow all procedures in reporting sick or the need to seek medical attention they can do so with their jobs safely waiting for their return.
The training also covered on regulations to follow towards ensuring safety and prevention of infection amongst staff.
Your continuous support propels us to do more. "
"We are also pleased to share with you the photo below which was taken from last Thursday’s distribution of the materials to be used by our farmer the prevention of covid-19 infections while they work on their fields and interact with their clients which was purchased through JTS support.
This particular distribution was made under the Manzini region (district), Eswatini’s leading district with Covid + cases . Your support is greatly appreciated in this regard. "
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.