Kasinthula Producer Story

We give praise to fair trade

"The fair trade programme is doing good things here. The village where I live has one borehole and receives electricity. It is very exciting. We never believed this would be possible!" Joyce Chibouro, sugar farmer, Kasinthula Cane Growers Ltd.

So what difference will electricity make to Joyce’s life?

"Now, when we are going to cook we use the firewood. When we have electricity we will be able to use it for cooking. Now I need to use a lamp but we will be able to use electricity for light and we will have fridges to keep food fresh. At the moment we can keep bread for only one day."

Joyce wants to provide the best for her 14-month-old son, Chiyembekezo. His name means ‘waiting for something good’ and Joyce believes that people in the UK can play a part in helping her son – and other sugar farmers’ families – to enjoy something good as they grow up.

"I want my baby to have a good future," she said. "If I am able to get more money, I could send him to high school so he may stand by himself in the future."

"We give praise to fair trade. I want you to tell people that they make Joyce, a sugar farmer, very happy when they buy our Kasinthula sugar."

Kasinthula Background

Kasinthula is an association of farmers in the very disadvantaged southern region of Malawi, prone to both drought and flooding at different times of the year. Its sugar became Fairtrade certified in 2003 and they have since received significant fair trade orders.

The Fairtrade premium has been spent on many projects and benefits to the farmers and their community. These include ploughing up and replanting with new sugar cane to ensure future crops, maize during a time of famine, electricity for one of the main villages where the farmers live and boreholes to help more people get easy access to clean water.