Transform Trade and the Fairtrade Foundation are joining forces to make sure smallholder farmers have a say in how the UK introduces its new deforestation rules.
105 small producer organisations from around the world have already signed a letter to the UK Government, calling for fairer rules that protect forests without putting farmers' livelihoods at risk. Now we want you to add your voice in support.
The UK is introducing new rules to tackle deforestation, but unless they're designed fairly, smallholder farmers could face extra costs and paperwork just to keep selling their crops.
Farmers need UK businesses to share responsibility by providing the training, tools and resources to help them protect forests and meet the new requirements.
This benefits everyone: farmers can invest in their farms and adapt to climate change, while businesses secure stronger, more resilient supplies of the coffee, chocolate and other products we all enjoy.
Add you name to support their cause using the form here.
Read the letter
Dear UK Government,
We are the people who grow the cocoa in your chocolate and the coffee in your morning cup. We may live thousands of miles away from Britain, but every day our lives are connected to yours through the food you import.
We know how important our forests are. We want to protect them too. Forests give us shade, protect our crops, and help our farms survive. They are home to wildlife and to our communities. They are part of the future we want for our children. That is why we welcome the UK's new rules to stop products linked to deforestation from entering the UK.
But we are worried about what happens next. These new rules will mean that farmers like us must provide more information, collect more evidence, often multiple times for different businesses, and take on new costs simply to keep selling our crops to the UK. For a small farmer, this is not a small thing, and we are worried that we will be asked to carry the biggest financial burden in these changes.
We are already facing rising costs, unpredictable weather, and harvests threatened by a changing climate we did not create. Many of us have very little money to spare. We cannot afford to pay alone for a problem that stretches all the way from our farms to some of the UK's biggest businesses. The companies buying our crops need to play their part.
Protecting our forests must be done in partnership with support from UK businesses to protect our livelihoods through practical support and shared costs. Today, we are asking you to make the rules work for us as well as forests, to give us a voice in the decisions that affect our futures, treat us as equal partners and ensure that the UK businesses we work with support us, with training, tools and through shared responsibility for meeting this new law.
When you sit down with a cup of coffee or break off a piece of chocolate, remember that it began with a farmer like us. We want to keep growing it, we want to protect our forests, and we want our children to be able to farm too.
Work with us. Listen to us. Support us. Make sure the UK's new deforestation rules are fair for farmers as well as forests.
Signed,
105 Fairtrade Producer Organisations
Full list of signatories
COOPADE/COOP-CA, DRCCooperative kawakanzururu, DRC
Burka Yadot Farmers Cooperative Union, Ethiopia
Adikanfo Co-operative cocoa farming and marketing union, Ghana
ASETENAPA CO-OPERATIVE COCOA FARMING AND MARKETING SOCIETY LIMITED, Ghana
Asunafo North Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union Limited, Ghana
Fanteakwa Dist CCP Co-op Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union LTD, Ghana
Kukuom Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marking Union Ltd, Ghana
CABAG SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
CAESI COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
CASIB COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
CAYSI SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
CEDA COOP CA, Ivory Coast
CNEK COOP CA, Ivory Coast
COOBADI-COOPCA, Ivory Coast
COOP CA IVOIRE GUEMON, Ivory Coast
COOP CA PAPEDI, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA AHS, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA CAGB, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA CAPUT, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA CNIBO, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA EBLEGBA, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA KF, Ivory Coast
COOP-CA-QUALOG, Ivory Coast
COOPAA COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
COOPAMA COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
COOPAME COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
Cooperative agricole des frères units de la marahoué, Ivory Coast
Coopérative Agricole DJIDJIYA DE BLOLEQUIN (COOP CA CADB), Ivory Coast
COOPERATIVE AGRICOLE SABABOU DE GRAND-LAHOU, Ivory Coast
COOPÉRATIVE AGRICOLE SIMPPLIFIEE NONGOTAHABA DE VAVOUA, Ivory Coast
COOPLAGUI COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
DAVO COOP CA, Ivory Coast
ECAPA-GZ COOP CA, Ivory Coast
ECOJAD COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
ECOOD COOP CA, Ivory Coast
ECOPAS, Ivory Coast
Entreprise Coopérative des Agriculteurs de Méagui (ECAM COOP-CA), Ivory Coast
ESCOPAG COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
NOVAGRI COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SCAEDA, Ivory Coast
SCAFKO SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
SCAGG COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SCAM COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SCANFI-SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
SCAPEN DIVO, Ivory Coast
SCINPA COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SCJPAB COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SCNV, Ivory Coast
SCOABEG COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
Scoop Ah, Ivory Coast
SCOOPA-CA, Ivory Coast
SCOOPRADI COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SCOOPS 2AP, Ivory Coast
SCOOPS ECAB, Ivory Coast
SCOOPS RADEE, Ivory Coast
SCOOPS SCOOPAG, Ivory Coast
SCOOPUF COOPCA, Ivory Coast
SOCAB SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
SOCABEN COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SOCAS COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE AGRICOLE BINKADI DE DAGADJI, Ivory Coast
Société Coopérative Agricole de Touadji1, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE AGRICOLE ENTENTE SIMPLIFIEE DE BETTIE (SCOOPS-SOCAEB), Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE AGRICOLE GUELANIN DE BANGOLO, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE AGRICOLE SIMPLIFIEE UNION SOLIDAIRE DES PLANTEURS DE KOUIBLY, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE AVEC CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION DJOUMAN DE KONGO-KOUASSIKRO, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE DIGNITE DE GUIBEROUA, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE ESPOIR D'ALEPE (COOP-CA ESPOIR), Ivory Coast
SOCIÉTÉ COOPÉRATIVE KAPATCHIVA AVEC CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION, Ivory Coast
SOCIETE COOPERATIVE, ENTREPRISE DES PRODUCTEURS AGRO-FORESTIERS DE GUIGLO, Ivory Coast
SOCOOPACDI COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SOCOOPAG COOP CA, Ivory Coast
SOCOOPAGOS COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SOCOOPAM-COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SOCOPANS COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SOCOPASG COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
SOVA SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
UPAS COOP-CA, Ivory Coast
UPRAD, Ivory Coast
VINOG SCOOPS, Ivory Coast
Kamurai Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd, Kenya
ABATERANINKUNGA BA SHOLI cooperative, Rwanda
Bwishaza coffee cooperative, Rwanda
Dukunde Kawa Musasa Cooperative, Rwanda
KODUKAK, Rwanda
KOTWIBAKABO, Rwanda
Misozi Coffee Company Ltd/PDCRE, Rwanda
Agri Leone Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Heuwolacheo Farmers' Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Indigenous Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Sierra Leone
Kasiyatama Cocoa Farmers Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Lanaya Cocoa farmer's cooperative, Sierra Leone
Liloma Agricultural Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Mubao-Nga Cocoa Farmers' Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Munafa COCOA farmers Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Ngoleagorbu Cocoa Farmers Union, Sierra Leone
Strong Roots Cooperative, Sierra Leone
Tegloma Cocoa Farmers cooperative society, Sierra Leone
Ankole Coffee Producers Cooperative Union (ACPCU) Ltd, Uganda
BANYANKOLE COFFEE SERVICES COOPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED, Uganda
Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise Limited, Uganda
Mt. Elgon Agroforestry Communities Cooperative Enterprise Limited, Uganda
Bundibugyo Abamwe Cocoa and Vanilla Growers Cooperative Society Limited, Uganda
Bundibugyo Improved Cocoa Farmers Cooperative Society Limited, Uganda