Susanne Ackerman-Berman at the Fairtrade & Fairhills Human Rights Day
22-03-2011 Fairtrade Label South Africa hosted its inaugural Human Rights Day event on 22 March at Fairhills Wine Farm in Rawsonville, Cape Town. This event was well supported by over 40 local and international media and stakeholders of Fairtrade wanting to know more about Fairtrade's initiatives locally and its commitment to empowerment and poverty alleviation.
The theme for this year's event was "People, Planet, Products" and aimed to highlight the need for sustainability of the land to fair product pricing.
Says Susanne Ackerman-Berman, Director of Transformation at Pick 'n Pay and Chairman of the Pick 'n Pay Foundation: "Pick 'n Pay is committed to true empowerment and transformation through the work it is doing via our Foundation. We focus on assisting small businesses and projects that restore dignity, showcase passopn and help develop the human spirit from the inside out." Pick 'n Pay is currently supporting the growth of a number of small business entrepreneurs and are involved in a range of projects that give back to the community and future generations.
This is very much aligned to the passion of Fairtrade locally and around the world, whose vision and mission it is to empower and develop the poorest producers and workers in developing countries. Says Boudewijn Goossens, Executive Director of Fairtrade Label South Africa; "Fairtrade actively combats poverty and empowers small-scale farmers and farm workers by ensuring better trading, working and living conditions, providing additional funds for community developmen projects and supporting sustainable production and protection of the environment."
Pick 'n Pay have committed to stocking Fairtrade goods as soon as they become available locally. Already consumers can buy a variety of Fairtrade wine and coffee in selected Pick 'n Pay stores.
Boudewijn Goossens and Susanne Ackerman-Berman.
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