Olchfa School, Wales, UK

What did we learn from the response? * From the response of the students we have learnt that Kenya’s main type of Fairtrade products are tea, flower and cotton which enable employment and many job opportunities for many Kenyans. In addition, these products enable the economy to rise due to the growth in export revenue. In addition, flower farming has been the major project within Kenya and is therefore the fifth largest flower exporter in the world. According to the students, the range of flower types in Kenya has expanded and now include sunflowers and lilies through the biggest company in Kenya known as ‘Finlay Flowers’. Cotton is another Fairtrade project promoted in Kenya.

* We have learnt that Fairtrade has allowed pregnant women, who had no access to health care resulting in high childbirth deaths and infant mortality rates, having access to a maternity centre built close at hand. Fairtrade has allowed the construction of water pumps and food storage facilities, the building of local community schools, greater educational opportunities, increasing employment rates and generally increasing the livelihoods of many people. * What is very surprising is the fact that Fairtrade has helped people of more than 55 countries, including Kenya itself, but it had also encouraged other countries to promote and sell Fairtrade goods, such as in the UK, who have licenced over 3,000 Fairtrade products * Furthermore, we have learnt that Fairtrade is a sustainable project and is moving toward being more competitive in the market place, as they are offering good prices for good quality, while helping the producers in the developing countries. The fact that Fairtrade has helped producers become more independent has started to educe poverty, therefore Fairtrade will enjoy its growth and seems to have a great future ahead.

What did we learn from the response of the students? * Although there was not much information, about Fairtrade, we have learned about an additional scheme, called OCEMN, which allows other countries around Romania, to pass with ships through neighbouring territories, to make trade easier. However what is interesting is the fact that the scheme can only remain sustainable if peace is maintained.

What did we learn from the response of the students? * We have learned that Cardiff takes part in the Fairtrade schemes, and includes food, clothing and other products such as money boxes and soft toys. According to the school, the scheme is helpful to other people around the world because producers receive a fair price for the products they create. This school believes the scheme is sustainable because it is very popular and contains products which are of good price and quality.

What did we learn from the response of the students? * We have learned that Canada’s main fair-trade product is coffee and that although 81% of Canadians drink coffee daily, most do not purchase Fairtrade coffee. In addition the very popular companies such as Tim Horton do not sell Fairtrade coffee which may reduce both competition in the country and the projects sustainability. The school refers to the Fairtrade mark which is the label placed on Fairtrade products to allow buyers to recognise whether or not a product is Fairtrade. We have learnt that Fairtrade Sugar is not a very successful product in Canada which undermines all the hard work put in by producers.

What did we learn from the response of the students? * We have learnt that Canada mainly promotes and sells Fairtrade coffee and that they are starting to sell Fairtrade tea and other products. In addition, we have learnt that Fairtrade is successful in helping people worldwide, for example one way it helps farmers and producers is by giving them a fair profit for their hard labour along with helping to increase economic growth for countries who are need of help. According to the students, Fairtrade is sustainable as long as countries participate and promote the project.

* Both the Canadian schools seem to have similar responses and claim that coffee is their main type of Fairtrade product, however Southern Victoria High school additionally claims that Canada has started to import and sell Fairtrade tea and other products. Southern Victoria High school seems to have answered the questions in a more relevant way because they have answered all three questions asked, whereas James M Hill memorial high school has only answered one question set in very limited detail. * We cannot really compare the Romanian school’s responses with the answers received by the other partners of the learning circle because the student in Colegui de Informatica “GRIGORE MOISIL” claim that their country do not participate in Fairtrade; however all that can be said about them is that the students have, like most of the other schools, and although not about Fairtrade told us what the OCEMN scheme is in the layout of the questions we asked.