Del Campo was set up in 1997 and represents more than 3,000 families through small farmer co-operatives selling Fairtrade and organic products on the national and international market.

As well as peanut production, Del Campo is the largest exporter of sesame in Nicaragua, and also works with coffee, honey, maize and beans producers. It is one of the largest exporters of organic products in Nicaragua and sells to both conventional and fairtrade markets.

Ikuru means ‘strength’ in the Makua language of northern Mozambique and has 8,500 members organised into smaller collectives called ‘foras’ producing peanuts, cashews, sesame and beans. Founded in 2003 by producers to enable them to secure a larger stake in the supply chain Ikuru exists to support the continuing growth in farmer’s associations. Thanks to Ikuru farmers receive on average 25% more pay from fair trade than local markets. They also receive a fair trade premium of $110 for each metric tonne sold, more for Organic produce.

Ikuru was established by farmers in order to break their dependency on traders who cheated them using rigged scales. The farmers are part owners of the co-operative which has helped them learn about production practices, organisation and business skills.

The Mchinji Association of Smallholder Farmers, MASFA, was set up in 2000 by 206 farmer groups from Mchinji as a subsidiary of NASFAM (another acronym, this time the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi). Its aim is to improve the status and prosperity of its members. MASFA has allowed 2,700 small scale tobacco farmers in Malawi, who have seen demand for their crops plummet, diversify and become peanut exporters. This has saved their livelihoods and they have begun to build a better future.

Based in the Kerala region of India, Fair Trade Alliance Kerala (FTAK) has 3,200 cashew producing members, all of whom are Fairtrade certified. Most FTAK members also produce spices for the Fairtrade market. It was set up in 2006 by members who had already been organised into farmers movements aimed at tackling widespread debt problems in the farming communities.

The producer co-operative RONAP (Recolectores Orgánicos Nuez Amazónica de Perú) was formed in 2003 with the aim of supplying a high quality product whilst ensuring protection of the environment and economic improvement for its members. Today, RONAP is made up of 65 member families that produce organic, Fairtrade Brazil nuts all of which are supplied to the fair trade market.

Madre de Dios, located in the South East of Peru on the border of Brazil and Bolivia, is the most sparsely populated region in Peru, with one inhabitant per km² of land. 98% of Madre de Dios is covered by virgin forests, and national parks cover 3.5 million hectares of Amazon forest. It is most probably the least intervened and eroded area in all of the Peruvian Amazon, due mostly to its difficult access because of its rough terrains and thick forests.

Madre de Dios depends heavily on natural products and raw materials for its economy, there is virtually no manufacturing industry, with the exception of gold mining. The main agricultural products are cotton, coffee, sugarcane, cocoa, brazil nuts and palm oil.

Illegal logging, poachinng of endangered species and loss of forest cover for agriculture are threatening the environmental stability of the region.

The poverty rate in Madre de DIos is 36.7%

Bolivian Brazil nut gatherers established COINACAPA in 1998 with 15 families from 3 different communities. It now has 270 families from 33 communities. Women are represented in many different levels inside the organisation.

“Since we started the co-operative it’s as if we’ve gained our freedom. It feels like we’re not slaves any more. We have more income, more work and more dignity,” says Benedicto Gonzalez, one of the gatherers.

Before COINACAPA was formed the gatherers sold to local middlemen for very low prices. If someone needed medical treatment they would have to borrow money from the owner of the land, be in their debt and have to commit all of their harvest to the land owner. Fairtrade means a fair price and with the Fairtrade premium the gatherers have paid for medical treatment for themselves and their families.