Happy New Year to you all and I hope you had a great Christmas. Welcome to the third edition of our Shared Interest customer newsletter and the first edition of 2015. You can read about Kabuboni and GOIG; two organisations which have participated in the Access to Finance programme. You will find information about challenges faced by fair trade businesses. Also included in this edition is news of our Fairtrade nut producer customer Candela’s 25th anniversary and Paul Sablich from our Peru office tells of his trip to their premises before Christmas. We are always aiming to add more stories of customers so please tell us about the exciting activities you are planning, special events happening, or any challenges you are facing. If sending an email seems too formal then we are all on Skype and happy to have a chat. I hope you enjoy this issue.
Malcolm Curtis
BIOFACH 11-13 February, Nuremburg, Germany AFCA 12-14 February, Nairobi, Kenya SCAA 9-12 April, Seattle, USA
Please be aware that you can find on our website a list of our producers and buyers by region. PRODUCER CUSTOMER LIST BY REGION Customer Bukonzo with our anniversary flag in Uganda
BUYER CUSTOMER LIST BY REGION
Follow the progress of the flags on our website and on Twitter @SharedInterest #followourflags #25years
To find out more email us at france.villeneuve@shared-interest.com
Although the investment in Shared Interest is described as a social investment, it is the members who bear the ultimate risk associated with the Society’s lending. In order to mitigate the risk a limit for each product was established. Please note that our Board have agreed this year to double the funds available to lend to cocoa.
We have more news on the Access to Finance project run by our charity, Shared Interest Foundation. Over 30 businesses benefiting from the Foundation’s bespoke training and mentoring have since applied for finance from us. We have now facilitated £2m of loan finance for producer organisations in Africa.
Read more in Social Accounts on our website
While we cannot claim to provide a solution to all of these problems, we do provide assistance in many of the areas highlighted: Through the producer committees and direct consultations with East African producers, we explored the biggest challenges that our producer customers currently face. From these themes, we developed a question in our online survey which requested the producers to rank eight common themes in order of importance to them currently. 21 out of 32 respondents answered this question, to provide the following results:
We partner with WFTO and Fairtrade International, who follow in issues of trade regulation. We also provide support to the Fair Trade Advocacy Office based in Belgium.
Shared Interest Foundation projects include training on accessing finance and also work with some groups to assist with accessing new markets, product development, operational efficiency and governance - all key elements of internal organisation. As a social lender we are very well placed to be able to provide appropriate and responsible finance to producer organisations.
We have extended the maximum duration of our term loans from five to seven years in order to assist coffee producer organisations with both pests/disease, climate change and the need to renew crops that have suffered with leaf rust in recent years. The challenges where we are less able to provide support are all market related: high production costs, market prices and finding new buyers.
female employees as the majority of dairy farmers tend to be women.” Dairy milk has huge demand in Kenya supported by the rising population and the emerging middle class, expected to fuel further the demand for healthy, packaged dairy products. Milk is expected to represent 44% of their total revenue generated and can be sold throughout the year unlike coffee which is seasonal.
After receiving specialist training and mentoring from Shared Interest Foundation’s Access to Finance project, Kabuboni members have been able to find an extra source of income from dairy farming. We have financed a cooling plant, which is used to store the milk at the correct temperature after it leaves Kabuboni’s collection centres. Philip Murithi Agostino said: “We were in dire need of funds for diversification. The training has helped us access this finance and subsequently increase the number of
As a pilot project Kabuboni is the first customer to receive a lending facility in their local currency. Many of the coffee farmers already kept dairy cows, but didn’t have the facilities to store their milk. By providing the cooling plant and encouraging their members to earn an additional income, Kabuboni is helping their members to become less vulnerable to coffee price fluctuations and provide better support for their families.
GOIG will use the loan to buy six new sewing machines specifically for working with heavy duty leather and canvas materials. Each machine will result in four new jobs as well as a brand new cashier position. They will also re-employ 18 weavers who had been made redundant. In 2013 GOIG established a nursery and primary school on the land that they own alongside their premises. GOIG was founded in 1991 by a group of 12 retired women, whose mission was to help older people in the community, and their vision was to pass down their skills to the next generation. However, 20 years ago, GOIG founded a vocational centre to train young people as well, especially girls, on handcraft making skills such as design, tailoring, textiles, jewellery, and candle-making. The organisation is led by Misana Manyama. As Executive Director, he manages the centre and training unit in weaving, tailoring and jewellery-making. Misana put the organisation forward as a candidate for Shared Interest Foundation’s Access to Finance project. Their subsequent training and mentoring has enabled GOIG to apply for a loan and a facility has been approved. Beside this they have already built the ground base of the new building for the peeling area. We have also supported Candela in the past with finance for improving their production infrastructure and equipment.
In October, Regional Development Executive Paul Sablich visited long standing customer Candela in Peru to join them in celebrating their 25th anniversary. Paul tells us about his trip. I recently visited Candela Perú in its premises in Puerto Maldonado town, South Eastern Jungle of Peru. Candela are one of Shared Interest’s oldest producer customers (15 years approx.), a WFTO member and focused on Brazil nuts, Brazil nut oil and dried fruits. They are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year. At least 200 nut gatherers participated in the celebrations plus staff from the Lima premises and Board members. Gaston Vizcarra (President) and Lupe Lanao (Manager) took us on a tour of the processing areas. They have already installed a new cauldron as well as an electric dryer, which will increase their production capacity. They are currently installing a new transportation system to reduce time and processing costs. Their brand new peeling machine has recently been assembled in Lima city and will later be delivered to Puerto Maldonado.
Following the ceremony we visited a garden area where Candela are trying to promote the plant biodiversity of the Jungle. They have covered the garden roads with Brazil nut shells and every step produced a cracking sound - surrounded by the pleasant smell of these nuts it is fantastic.
Previously the situation was very difficult. When we accessed the credit provided by Shared Interest we were able to buy cocoa beans and as a consequence to help our farmers. ACOPAGRO, General Manager, Gonzalo Rios NuĂąez
Thank you to Shared interest and its members who support us in providing financial support for us to be able to finance our production. Craft Aid Mauritius, Managing Director Gabriel Kamudu
Social Accounts are one of the ways in which Shared Interest holds itself accountable to those people that have an interest in its activities. This is our tenth set of annual social accounts. It has been compiled in accordance with the process recommended by the Social Audit Network UK and audited by a panel chaired by a SAN qualified social auditor.
Annual Review gives Shared Interest the opportunity to detail the important milestones that were reached during the year as well as showcase the highlights and plans for the future. Read about the impact of Shared Interest Society on buyers and producers overseas in our 2014 Annual Review. 2014 Annual Review is now available to read or download on our website here.
2014 Social Accounts is now available to read or download on our website here.
Shared Interest Society has representatives in the following regions: Accra, Ghana Lima, Peru Nairobi, Kenya Newcastle, UK San JosĂŠ, Costa Rica Email: sales@shared-interest.com Website: www.shared-interest.com Skype: see website for contact details @SharedInterest We would like to hear from you if you have a story you would like to share. Has your Shared Interest loan or credit facility transformed your business in a really unique way? Or maybe you can advise other businesses on how you faced a certain challenge and overcame it. Get in touch with us at sales@shared-interest.com if you would like your business story featured.