Preston and South Ribble Fairtrade Group

Massatoma Mounkoro, who represents 73 village co-operatives in Mali, is coming to Preston this month on a Fairtrade mission, talking to a variety of audiences about how Fairtrade has made a difference to his community.

Son of cotton farmers, he’s a leading member of the Malian Organic Movement in Southern Mali, an area of Fairtrade cotton and mango growing. His group has over 6,500 members of which a third are women.

Massatoma has played a major role in a David and Goliath battle, breaking through cotton monopolies to allow his country a fairer chance against richer producers, like the US.

It’s a country where there are high levels of poverty, poor access to good roads, clean water and healthcare.

Many Preston schoolchildren will be surprised to hear that many children in Southern Mali don’t go to school, as they have to help their parents out in the fields.

Thanks to the work of Massatoma and his co-workers, farmers in that area have been getting a fairer price for their organic produce. It’s meant they can buy donkey carts to transport fertilisers and get more oxen to till the land. It has also meant that they can now afford to send their children to school.

Come and meet and hear Massatoma at any of these events:

Opportunities to meet Massatoma