Oct 17 is UN World Poverty Day

In addition to Fair Trade month (and Halloween) October also has UN World Poverty Day. UNIFEM along with the Women's Funding Network have put together a pretty cool e-card to spread the word about this. In 2000, as part of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) world leaders pledged to cut poverty by half by 2015. Yet mid-way to the deadline, it is clear that many countries will not reach this goal — unless they do something radically different. The focus on women as economic drivers is one that EDImports has certainly seen first hand. We've watched children be educated, homes be built, medicine be purchased, and behind it all, self-esteem be nourished as women have become integral contributers to their both their family and local economies. The Economist called women “the most powerful engine” of global economic growth, estimating that over the past decade, they have contributed more to such growth than China. For more information on this, visit this list of facts and figures that show in real terms how gender equality can lead to economic growth.

I hope you'll have a chance to view the e-card and stand up for the rights of women to be economic contributors around the world.

Fair Trade Month is Great for Our Artisans

October is fair trade month and it has been quite a good one for many of the artisan groups from whom we source. And now another group, Muya Ethiopia, that makes our light and sheer scarves from Ethiopia, has been recognized as a new member of IFAT.

IFAT, or the International Fair Trade Association, is a global network of Fair Trade Orgnizations. Like the Fair Trade Federation in the US, (of which EDImports and our partner One World Projects are members), recognition by this group means that one's business practices uphold the principles and practices of fair trade. There are fewer than 25 companies from Africa recognized by IFAT and Muya is the first from Ethiopia.

When we visited their workshop in 2006 we were impressed not only by the organization and clearly pleasant work environment, with gardens and airy workshops, but also by the extra efforts Muya makes to help the artisans, such as a hot meal served daily and much above average wages. The quality of the place and people shows through in the final products as their weaving is among the very best in the country. Congrats to Muya on their acceptance to IFAT!

Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA)

A couple weeks ago, Bono, accepted the Liberty Medal for his humanitarian work in Africa and exhorted Americans to keep working to solve the world's problems and spoke of those who are without freedom.

"When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free...When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free," Bono said.

Bono and the organization he co-founded, Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA), received the award from former Liberty Medal recipient Pres. George H.W. Bush at the National Constitution Center and he donated the $100,000 prize to DATA.

While some people don't agree with Bono's approach to solving the problems in Africa, as they often involve large amounts of aid, DATA also engages in product development projects through PROJECT RED. Though EDImports has not had the pleasure of creating any products for PROJECT RED, Hallmark recently announced that it had created some bags in Mali that will be featured, along with some cards and other items, at their stores this fall. The vendors who supply our mudcloth bags and much of our West African jewelry both participated in the program.

We congratulate them on their success!

Rwanda Baskets In the News

The New York Times ran a nice article yesterday in the Home & Garden section about the women of Rwanda and their handmade baskets which are available at Macy's. Believe it or not the group that was featured is the same group that we began working with back in 2003.

The president of the cooperative mentioned in the article, Irene Dukuze Mugaybzu, who we affectionately call "Duku," is shown in this photo, which can also be seen on our partner website, One World Projects.

Through our partner you can buy our wonderful Rwandan baskets made by this group. Often it takes small companies like ours to pave the way for larger companies like Macy's to come in. We're thrilled to have them as they certainly help improve quality standards and give a lot more work to the artisans than we could on our own. But, we still hope you'll consider our assortment of Rwandan items if you don't see what you want at Macy's!

War Is Expensive

This latest tidbit of disturbing information comes from a report recently posted on All Africa a good source for news from and about the continent.

"A new study shows that conflicts in Africa cost the continent over 300 billion U.S. dollars between 1990 and 2005 – an amount equivalent to all the international aid received by sub-Saharan Africa in the same period.

The results of the study were released Thursday in a report by Oxfam International, the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) and Saferworld. The report is the first to show, on a large scale, the effect of conflict on Africa's gross domestic product (GDP).

The report, entitled "Africa's Missing Billions: International Arms Flows and the Cost of Conflict", compares the economies of countries at war with those of countries experiencing peace. According to the report, an average "war, civil war, or insurgency shrinks an African economy by 15 percent," and the continent loses about 18 billion U.S. dollars a year to conflict."

This is yet another example of why it is so important that people have access to employment and capital to create productive and thriving businesses rather than having to turn to war and arms dealing as a livelihood. Fair Trade businesses, though often small in scale, give rural and often uneducated people access to the income needed to both educate their children and participate in a growing economy, thereby letting medium and large sized businesses grow and prosper.

Live from the Green Festival in DC

I am standing here in our booth at the Green Festival in Washington DC where hundreds of vendors like ourselves are selling everything from fair trade coffee to semi-powered bicycles. We've got a full display of fair trade baskets, jewelry, home goods and fun gifts and are located next to one of the stages where speakers such as Ralph Nadar and will be speaking. It's a pretty cool event and also occurs in Chicago and San Francisco so maybe some of you readers will get to a Green Festival someday. Well, someone wants to make a purchase so I better get back to work.

PS. For those who think global warning is a crackpot idea...all I can say is that it's October 7th and it's going to be nearly 90 degrees here today?!

It's all GOOD

Saturday night I, along with a couple thousand other people, attended the GOOD Magazine NYC Anniversary Party. For those of you who have not yet flipped through an issue of GOOD, they describe the philosophy of the magazine as follows: We see a growing number of people tied together not by age, career, background, or circumstance, but by a shared interest. This revolves around a passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism and creative engagement. We sum all this up as the sensibility of giving a damn. But to shorten it, let's call it GOOD. We're here to push this movement and cover its realization.

Playing on the theme of "giving a damn" they had plenty of sponsors at the event promoting everything from t-shirts made from bamboo that encouraged people to invest to end poverty and hunger, to instant messaging for a cause, not to mention Izze soda and Abosolut vodka which made everyone feel better. I took advantage of the opportunity to make a short video (about a minute) about what I give a damn about, namely fair trade. Who knows, maybe they'll post it on the GOOD Magazine blog in the coming weeks?!