Our Story
JTS (Just Trading Scotland) is a small business in Paisley which grew out of the work of two fair trade shops in the Glasgow area (The Balmore Coach House and Rainbow Turtle in Paisley). They had been importing goods from Africa for some years, jams, marmalades and sauces from Swaziland and crafts from Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique and had seen how even quite small amounts of imports can help producers in Africa earn a better living.
In 2008 they decided to start working in Malawi. The Scottish Government was keen for businesses in Scotland to work with producers in Malawi and they had the help of another Scottish organisation, Imani Development, based in Oban, which also has offices in Malawi.
John Riches from JTS visited Malawi in December 2008 and met Abdul Phiri, a rice farmer, and The National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM). NASFAM and the farmers were looking for ways of increasing their sales so that they could encourage farmers to grow more rice. JTS decided to order a container with 18 tonnes of rice.
How do you sell 18 tonnes of rice when you have never sold a grain before?
- JTS spoke to East Dunbartonshire and Renfrewshire who agreed to serve Malawi rice in schools.
- Liz Cotton of JTS thought that it would be good to challenge schools and churches to sell 90kg of rice, as that was what a farmer had to sell to send one child to school for one year. Around 400 Rice Challenges have been completed by schools and churches across the UK since February 2009 – over 35 tonnes!
- Fair trade shops across the UK bought the rice and encouraged churches and schools to do the 90 kg Challenge.
- Edinburgh University are now serving Malawi kilombero rice in their residences.
This has been a huge joint effort. Councils, schools, churches, shops, universities have all played their part in introducing a new brand of rice to the UK. As a result, Malawi farmers have found new markets which can allow them to increase production. JTS have now bought 70 tonnes of rice from NASFAM and are looking to buy at least the same amount again in the next year.
Our partner organisations
We are pleased to present a short but growing list of the organisations with whom we work.
As we get permission to include links, we will post them here. If you would like to be included in this list, whether you are a retailer, supplier, council, church or any organisation concerned with fair trade and developing just and equitable trading arrangements producers in developing nations, then please contact us on +44 (0)141 887 1881 or info[at]justtradingscotland.co.uk and we will be delighted to discuss it with you.
Our UK Partners
Scottish Fair Trade Forum – Facilitating Scotland’s drive to become a Fair Trade nation
http://www.scottishfairtradeforum.org.uk/
The Scotland Malawi Partnership – The Scotland Malawi Partnership exists to inspire the people and organisations of Scotland to be involved with Malawi in an informed, coordinated and effective way so that both nations benefit.
http://www.scotland-malawipartnership.org/
Trade Connections – Promoting trade with Malawi.
http://www.tradeconnections.org/
The Coach House – One of the founding organisations behind Just Trading Scotland
http://www.balmoretrust.org.uk/
Rainbow Turtle – The other founding organisation – and Paisley’s very own Fair Trade pioneer organisation
http://www.rainbowturtle.co.uk/
Our Global Partners
TrueFood – Based in Crassier, Switzerland, TrueFood is our first non-UK stockist specialising in Fair Trade foods and ‘produit locale’
http://www.truefood.ch
Eswatini Swazi Kitchen – The Swaziland-based and COFTA-registered producer of a naturally delicious and unusual range of chutneys, sauces, marmaldes and jams, including the popular Peach and Ginger Jam and the 70% chilli Swazi Fire sauce.
http://www.eswatinikitchen.co.sz/
The National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi
http://www.nasfam.org/
Dedza Pottery
http://www.dedzapottery.com/
Ngwenya Glass
http://www.ngwenyaglass.co.sz/
Swazi Candles
http://www.swazicandles.com/
East Dunbartonshire Partnership
East Dunbartonshire Council has formed a unique partnership with Just Trading Scotland to bring fairly-traded Kilombero Rice to Scotland.
Scottish Councils, church groups and other local community groups have joined East Dunbartonshire Council to buy a total of 23,000 kg rice so far, returning significant benefits to the rice producers in Malawi. Supporting the Rice Project has brought social, economic and educational benefits at the local level, and at the same time is contributing towards East Dunbartonshire’s status as a Fairtrade zone.
Click here to read the case study from the Scottish Fair Trade Forum’s website: 