Just Trading Scotland is a new company which is importing fairly traded foods and crafts from Africa. With support from Imani Development, it has just started importing from Malawi. Its first Malawian imports are kilombero rice, macadamia nuts, pottery from Dedza and hand-made cards from Nchima Trust. It plans to extend its Malawi Kitchen range to include pan roasted peanuts, pulses, peri peri sauces, dried fruit and vegetables.

Just Trading imports rice from NASFAM, the National Association of Smallholder Farmers of Malawi. This is a member association which provides training, discounted farm inputs and fair prices to its members. Just Trading also plans to import from small and medium enterprises which can add value to smallholder farmers’ produce by processing, packaging and bagging and which are prepared to offer support and fair prices to the farmers. Through a system of social auditing, it will verify the fairness of the supply chain from farm to exporter. In this way smallholder farmers in Malawi can gain access to international markets on fair terms and receive a just reward for their immensely hard work.

Just Trading is already selling its products into shops, schools and to Fair Trade stalls. It has also devised a 90kg rice challenge pack. If a school, a church, a club can sell 90 kgs of rice, that is what it takes to send a child to secondary school in Malawi. The pack includes posters, leaflets, fact sheets and a power point presentation. Most people eat rice and a kilo of good quality rice at £2.75 is not a lot to spend on something you need anyway. But it can do a great deal of good and people can easily understand what they have achieved. To date over 40 groups have successfully completed the challenge. All enquiries to 0141 887 1881. www.justtradingscotlnd.co.uk.

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