Observing Fair Trade Month, and why it means not taking the short-cuts

October marks National Fair Trade Month in the United States: a month dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of fair trade, and the promotion of buying and using socially and commercially responsible products. Despite the term’s ubiquity, its full meaning still eludes most of us, with the numerous fair trade entities adding to the confusion. What makes Fair Trade so complicated, and what does Fair Trade mean to Grow Ahead?

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Agroforestry, Cocoa, and what it means for farmers in Ghana

We can find cocoa in cuisines and traditions around the world. In spite of — or perhaps because of — cocoa’s widespread popularity as an ingredient and commodity, traditional cocoa farming is built on colonial models of extraction that exploit the land, farmers, and farm workers.

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Indigenous-led Ecosystem Restoration in Mexico

Campaign Goal: $60,000

Country: Mexico

Grow Ahead teamed up with Communal Assets of the Lacandona Zone (BCZL) to support traditional Mayan agroforestry to boost biodiversity, support soil health and restore freshwater in the lagoons, rivers and springs of the Lacandona Jungle.

Funded February 2020

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Agroforestry & Food Security For Small-Scale Farming Communities

Agroforestry is a system of land management where trees are deliberately planted with agricultural crops to emulate native forestry systems. Farmers and Indigenous communities have been planting crops and trees together in food-forest systems for thousands of years. In recent years agroforestry has  become increasingly recognized as a way of land management that sequesters carbon…

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