Rice Farmer on UK Tour
During Fairtrade Fortnight this year we were delighted to welcome rice farmer Howard Msukwa to Yorkshire. Howard visited Skipton and talked about how climate change is affecting rice growers and also about the difference that Fair Trade can make to help producers.
Howard was welcomed by Councillor Clare Nash, Mayor of Skipton and Liz Roodhouse, Chair of Skipton Fairtrade.
Howard is from Malawi and produces Kilombero rice, which you can buy from True Origin.
During Fairtrade fortnight Howard visited schools, churches and community groups to speak about the challenges faced by the smallholder farmers and their communities.
True Origin is a fair trade food importer seeking to support smallholder farmers in the global south by building mutually beneficial and empowering partnerships. In 2009, Howard was instrumental in forging a partnership between Malawian rice growers and JTS (now True Origin), a relationship which has developed and strengthened over the last 15 years.
True Origin buys and markets aromatic Kilombero rice from the farmers and over the years has been involved in the funding of a variety of projects supporting seed multiplication, education, ploughs, oxcarts, wells and irrigation. Currently True Origin Partnerships is working with the farmers on various projects including supporting groups of women farmers to develop a business making fuel briquettes from waste rice husks; and is exploring longer term irrigation solutions with the farmers.
