The Mavuno Harvest Fair Trade Premium 2016
Thanks to delicious dried fruits, high quality and hard working supplier partners, and our wonderful customers, Mavuno Harvest more than doubled in 2016. Because of this growth we were able to continue to grow our impact in the African communities which grow the fruit.
Our farmers are using this opportunity to sell their full harvests, get paid more, and invest in their businesses and communities.
Our Mango originates in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world by GDP. Burkina Faso is a landlocked country that depends on adequate rainfall with about 80% of the population engaged in subsistence farming. Our suppliers in Burkina Faso are grouped in 3 separate cooperatives, all speaking the local language of Dioula:
- Mangoso - Dioula for 'Home of mangos'
- Kottoallama - Dioula for 'Let God be in charge'
- Yirikanu - Dioula for 'Praise the tree'
In addition to increasing farmer incomes by providing a solid market for their mangos, Mavuno Harvest is also a Fair Trade certified company which means we pay a little extra for our fruit. This extra pay goes into a Fair Trade premium fund which is used for socially-oriented projects in the mango-growing communities. Here are the notable projects we completed in 2016:
Further construction and equipping of a primary school:
In 2015, the Fair Trade premium was used to build a school classroom (capacity of 75 students) in Burkina Faso in the village of Toussiana. With the fair trade premium from 2016, the school was able to expand, adding new classrooms and desks and increasing the amount of pupils to over 200. In the past, children had to walk 5 KM to the closest school. The headmaster, Mr. Emmanuel Goudeman is very excited (and busy!) to watch his school grow:
Continued investment in mango processing:
As the mango business grows, our farmer supplier partners need to continue to invest in their business. Therefore the following activities were completed using the Fair Trade premium:
- A team was set up to focus on new high quality organic seedlings to help Mango orchards thrive and grow.
- Investment in new and improved drying facilities using solar panels.
- Continued and growing training sessions to teach farmers about the benefits of organic farming.
Construction of new water and sanitation facilities:
The Mangoso cooperative has decided to invest in new toilets for their local school.
Repairing and drilling a well to provide clean drinking water:
The Kotoallaman cooperative has decided to repair a water well which will provide clean drinking water to their community:
Purchasing school supplies
The Yirikanu cooperative decided to use their share of the Fair Trade premium to purchase school supplies for their local school:
We at Mavuno Harvest are so excited for the progress made in these villages, and look forward to much more growth over the years!