A light organic fair trade raw cane sugar from Paraguay.

• Certified by the Soil Association.
• 10 x 500g.
• Carries the FAIRTRADE Mark.
• Suitable for Vegetarians

Fair Trade Sugar
Salvador Delgadillo Rotela is one of the earliest farming members of this co-op, and currently the president. Salvador and his family have farmed in this area for as long as he can remember, and he still lives in what was his grandfather's home. He has 4.5 hectares of land and has hired a further half-hectare to grow sugar cane.

The farmers are paid by the bundles of sugar cane they sell to Otisa. At harvest time, they bring the bundles by ox-cart to a central point where they help each other to load the bundles onto a truck hired from Otisa. Sometimes they may hire other workers to help.

"It's back-breaking work so some of the premium is being used to buy one hectare of land on which they plan to build a mechanical 'crane' to load the bundles onto the trucks. It will also provide a meeting point for farmers with their crop. Farmers will make a small payment to use of these facilities but they will be available to everyone in the area - not just the co-op members."

The only source of fresh water for him and his neighbours is a spring 500m from his home. They want to use some of the fair trade premium to supplement a hoped-for grant from the regional government, to dig a deep well to provide running water for the whole community.

The organic sugar used comes from the Otisa Sugar Mill, in Arroyos y Esteros, Paraguay, and the fair trade premium is shared by the approximately 80 local farmers who make up three of the co-ops supplying the sugar cane to the mill.