Positive progress for a sugar co-op in Eswatini

Since the Eswatini sugar growing communities in southern Africa joined Fairtrade, life for the farmers and workers there has been transformed.

The Fairtrade Premium has enabled the Eswatini cooperative to increase the efficiency of sugar production, eliminate the use of harmful chemicals in sugarcane husbandry and become energy self–sufficient with a solar plant that also pumps water from the reservoirs to the households and sugar fields.

All these improvements have meant the local industry now has higher compliance with international market requirements, boosting sales and promoting more sustainable farming methods.

Furthermore, in recent years the Premium has paid for clean water supplies, school and youth empowerment projects and the construction of better homes for the most disadvantaged in the growing community.

ED&F Man is proud of its close trading relationship with the co-op that secures a brighter future for the people of Eswatini.