New York, N.Y., August 12, 2010 — Fair trade certified summer citrus from South Africa will be featured next week at an upscale grocery in Manhattan. The navel oranges were produced on a farm about two hours northwest of Cape Town that is co-owned by a citrus producer and his employees.
Fair trade is the organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as social and environmental standards. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries. Fair trade certified sales in 2008 amounted to approximately US$4.08 billion (latest figures available) worldwide, a 22 percent year-on-year increase.
The navel oranges available at Food Emporium’s 16 Manhattan stores are part of a comprehensive economic empowerment program launched 11 years ago. The program, Harvest of Hope (HOH), is part of an ownership and development program for South African workers on citrus farms belonging to growers who are members of the Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum (WCCPF), the group of more than 350 farmers eligible to export citrus to the U.S.
The navel oranges come from a farm, Cedar Citrus, near the town of Citrusdal. It is jointly owned by Mr. Gerrit van der Merwe, Chairman of the WCCPF, and 36 of his employees. The joint venture is one of 15 similar Harvest of Hope operations and is funded in part by all the farmers’ citrus exports to the U.S.
“Citrus exports to the U.S. began with 500 tons in 1999,” says van der Merwe. “This year we will be exporting in excess of 40,000 tons. The growth has enabled WCCPF members to initiate and sustain the Harvest of Hope program of economic empowerment for their farm employees.”
The Cedar Citrus HOH partnership between van der Merwe and his employees was established in 1998 when van der Merwe donated a 100 acre parcel of land to the partnership. Since then 36,000 trees of the best citrus cultivars have been planted to ensure the best export quality possible.
Van der Merwe said the Harvest of Hope projects support a wide range of development initiatives, including skills development and transfer, education and training, health care, with a particular focus on dealing with HIV AIDS, child care and leisure time development. “These projects create an asset base for farm employees to exercise at their discretion, allowing them to secure a sustainable future for their families.”
Apart from citrus farming, the Harvest of Hope projects also produce Rooibos (red bush) tea, wine and table grapes, and deciduous fruit. They also include worker shareholding in citrus pack houses.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has visited the HOH project at Cedar Citrus and has declared, “the dreams of the South African Rainbow Nation are alive and well in the citrus orchards of Citrusdal.”
South Africa is the second largest exporter of citrus in the world and produces 60 percent of all citrus grown in the Southern Hemisphere. Other than the U.S., export markets include the European Union, Far East, Middle East, Russia, and the rest of Africa. The South African fruit bound for U.S. consumers comes mostly from the region near Citrusdal, the Northern Cape, near Kimberley, and along the Orange River near the town of Upington.
Food Emporium’s 16 Manhattan locations are featuring Fair trade certified South African navels from HOH. Gerrit van der Merwe will be visiting the stores August 16th to talk with consumers about South African Summer Citrus and the Fair Trade fruit from the Harvest of Hope program.
Source: Western Cape Citrus Producers Forum