Organic fruit from Ghana: Exports a lifeline for farmers
17 September 2007
Ernest Abloh is the Chief Agronomist at
Blue Skies Ghana. His team provides
training and support for over 150 farmers, 78 of whom are small-holder organic
farmers. Blue Skies' fresh-cut fruit factory employs 1,700 people and, through
salaries alone, injects over £2 million into the local community every year. The
company accounts for around 1% of Ghana's total exports. Here, Ernest explains
how it is vital for Blue Skies and for Ghana itself that this trade continues,
without obstacles.
"We help all our farmers to reach the strict standards as required by European
partners - these include
EurepGAP for good agricultural practice,
Fairtrade,
LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and of course the
Soil Association's
prestigious Organic Standard. It is our aim for the foreseeable future to
continue to increase our number of organic farmers, which is something that the
Soil Association has supported us with from the beginning."
An air-freight ban: Damaging to trade
However, the environmental friendliness of Blue Skies' method of exporting produce has recently been called into question. "Since January we have had to face the prospect of a ban of our organic fruit by the Soil Association. This ban has been proposed because we have to air-freight our fresh-cut fruit to your supermarkets. We pray that a ban will not be imposed but we feel that the damage has already been done by focusing only on air-freight and by not looking at the wider issue."
Ernest stresses the importance of protecting the environment, but asks
that the whole picture be considered: "We believe that looking after the
environment is paramount to our future. Changing weather patterns are already
affecting our pineapple yields, so we must continue to do all that we can to
change and adapt and we ask that the people of Europe do the same. We also ask
that the people of Europe tackle the issue of climate change sensibly. Thanks to
the information we receive by exporting to Europe, we now know all about carbon
footprints; we also know that the combined carbon footprint of all our farmers
is practically nil!"
"If this is all about the environment," he adds, "then the impact of our trade on global warming should be evaluated in a fair context by taking into account the entire ecological footprint of a product and not just focusing on one stage. To define a product's environmental impact according to just one stage of its production is misleading and does not offer our customers any realistic solution to tackling the problem of climate change.
A fairer way of addressing the issue
As Ernest explains, it is crucial that the environmental impact of food production and consumption is reduced, just as it is crucial that the developed world supports the growth of poor countries' economies. The current 5% growth of African economies is due in part to the sort of agricultural exports that Blue Skies sends around the globe.
"A decision to ban will not only have consequences for the poor farmers in
Africa, but could also change the way our customers approach the issue of the
environment by giving credence to misleading claims rather than taking into
account the hard science."
"There is now a golden opportunity to tackle climate change by dealing with this
issue in the right way. We therefore call upon our friends in Europe to work
together to find a better and fairer way to address the environmental, social
and economic impact of the food we eat, so as to ensure a brighter future for us
all."
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