Sierra Leone to boost West Africa’s ethical option
by Market Insider
Wednesday, 28 Aug. 2013
The Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Company (SLPMC) has been approved as a fair trade body through FLO-CERT with a focus on ethical production which will seek to set Sierra Leone apart for buyers in Europe and North America.
For cocoa and coffee in particular Sierra Leone hopes to stand out from much bigger regional players that currently dominate the export market; SLPMC export volume at the moment is 18,000 metric tons (for cocoa) which is very small compared to countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana which meant that the country had to be innovative to make sure their product is accepted; for fair trade producers certification is expected to come with the dual benefit of ethical treatment and international appeal.
The establishment of the SLPMC aimed at boosting internal and external trade for food security, guaranteeing foreign exchange earnings for the country, generating youth and general community employment, ensuring better control over quality of exportable agricultural goods and securing a steady future for Sierra Leone’s products, thereby fostering economic development and poverty reduction.
The company will also place focus on preventing child labour and upholding environmental standards providing compliance by record keeping; constant monitoring by produce field officers, working between the producer and the company, will ensure that children are not used in production.
As demand for ethical goods grows in the United States of America and in European markets SLPC hopes to drive international appeal by certifying more farmers and creating a common fair trade brand; SLPMC recognizes that sustainable growth depends on how well quality agricultural produce is made available for sale in the export market and in the local processing industry at an economic price whilst guaranteeing fair prices to local farmers.
SLPMC knows precisely what the current market requirements are and produce to those specifications; it is hoped that the new SLPMC will stimulate long-term sustainability for linking the farmer in Sierra Leone to international markets with highly competitive products.
Beyond coffee and cocoa, ethical products could also include palm oil, cashew, ginger, cassava and rice; as the company forms international partnerships, the availability and selection will become more defined.