Organic fruit from Ghana: Exports a lifeline for farmers
Ernest Abloh is the Chief Agronomist at Blue Skies Ghana. His team provides training and support for over 150 farmers, 78 of whom are small-holder organic farmers. Blue Skies' fresh-cut fruit factory employs 1,700 people and, through salaries alone, injects over £2 million into the local community every year. The company accounts for around 1% of Ghana's total exports. Here, Ernest explains how it is vital for Blue Skies and for Ghana itself that this trade continues, without obstacles.
"We help all our farmers to reach the strict standards as required by European partners - these include EurepGAP for good agricultural practice, Fairtrade, LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and of course the Soil Association's prestigious Organic Standard. It is our aim for the foreseeable future to continue to increase our number of organic farmers, which is something that the Soil Association has supported us with from the beginning."
An air-freight ban: Damaging to trade
However, the environmental friendliness of Blue Skies' method of exporting produce has recently been called into question. "Since January we have had to face the prospect of a ban of our organic fruit by the Soil Association. This ban has been proposed because we have to air-freight our fresh-cut fruit to your supermarkets. We pray that a ban will not be imposed but we feel that the damage has already been done by focusing only on air-freight and by not looking at the wider issue."
Ernest stresses the importance of protecting the environment, but asks that the whole picture be considered: "We believe that looking after the environment is paramount to our future. Changing weather patterns are already affecting our pineapple yields, so we must continue to do all that we can to change and adapt and we ask that the people of Europe do the same. We also ask that the people of Europe tackle the issue of climate change sensibly. Thanks to the information we receive by exporting to Europe, we now know all about carbon footprints; we also know that the combined carbon footprint of all our farmers is practically nil!"
"If this is all about the environment," he adds, "then the impact of our trade on global warming should be evaluated in a fair context by taking into account the entire ecological footprint of a product and not just focusing on one stage. To define a product's environmental impact according to just one stage of its production is misleading and does not offer our customers any realistic solution to tackling the problem of climate change.
A fairer way of addressing the issue
As Ernest explains, it is crucial that the environmental impact of food production and consumption is reduced, just as it is crucial that the developed world supports the growth of poor countries' economies. The current 5% growth of African economies is due in part to the sort of agricultural exports that Blue Skies sends around the globe.
"A decision to ban will not only have consequences for the poor farmers in Africa, but could also change the way our customers approach the issue of the environment by giving credence to misleading claims rather than taking into account the hard science."
"There is now a golden opportunity to tackle climate change by dealing with this issue in the right way. We therefore call upon our friends in Europe to work together to find a better and fairer way to address the environmental, social and economic impact of the food we eat, so as to ensure a brighter future for us all."
Links
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/casestudies/files/africa/tanzania-saccos.asp