The Brussels Development Briefing no. 44 on “Promoting responsible and sustainable sourcing through Fair Trade” took place on 22 June 2016 from 9:00 to 13:00, at the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. This Briefings was co-organised by CTA, the European Commission / DEVCO, the ACP Secretariat, CONCORD and the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.

1. CLAC – Presentation Brussels June 2016

2. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC´s Mission:
• Since its creation in 1996, CLAC represents
democratically organized small producer and
worker organizations under the principles and
values of Fair Trade in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
• CLAC provides assistance to producers and
workers; promotes the Fairtrade products and
values and influences social, political and
economic policies.
Presenting CLAC

3. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanSome facts & figures:
• CLAC is a network of over 700 Producer Organizations, representing over
300.000 farmers and workers families
• It represents over 900.000 hectares of cultivated land with Fairtrade certified
products
• 2015 Fairtrade Sales Revenue of 700 million USD, representing over 60% of
all Fairtrade sales, main products : Coffee, Bananas, Cocoa, Sugar and
Honey
• CLAC is present in 24 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and is
co-owner of the Fairtrade system
Presenting CLAC

4. CLAC Staff
Coffee Production & market
+
4
+
3
EL SALVADOR
+
4
+ 5
Cocoa Production & market
Banana Production & market
Sugar Production & market
+
2
Honey Production & market
Gender & Youth Inclusion
24 countries…
730 Fairtrade
Organizations
of Producers
and Workers
Climate Change Program
Social Compliance
50 people across
the continent
for technical
assistance to the
member
organizations
and their
networks
CLAC´s Staff :

5. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
Presenting CLAC
CLAC Areas of Work:

6. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to reduce poverty via:
Organized farmers and Trade:
Through their own producer organisations, legally
established, but also through Country Networks at
national level and Product Networks at International
level and CLAC agglomerates them all. This level of
organization leads to both individual as collective
empowerment. Organized farmers are able to
collectively face social, economic and environmental
challenges and work towards sustainability.
Presenting CLAC

7. CLAC
Platforms
Country
Networks
International Board of
15 people,
representing Regions,
Products and Type of
members (small
producers and
workers)
At country level:
For decision
taking,
consultation
and
representation
CLAC´s Coordinating Platforms

8. CLAC
Platforms
Atinternationallevel:
Product
Networks
& Workers
Network
CLAC Coffee Network
CLAC´s Coordinating Platforms

9. CLAC
Platforms
Atinternationallevel:
Product
Networks
& Workers
Network
CLAC Banana Network
CLAC´s Coordinating Platforms

10. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to reduce hunger via:
Direct Access to Market and
improved terms of Trade:
By ensuring a direct access to the market and in
particular markets that provide better conditions, as
does Fairtrade with a set minimum price, a premium
payment for social, environmental or economic
development and by facilitating long term trading
relationships with possibilities of pre-finance.
Presenting CLAC

11. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to reduce hunger via:
Biodiversity and Food sovereignty:
As part of the Fair Trade and Cooperative Principles,
respect for the environment is expressed in the
Producer organisations via high bio-diverse
intercropping methods, ensuring not only increased
Climate Change Resilience, but also increased Food
Sovereignty for the farmers, their families and
surrounding communities. Farmers spend 60-70% of
their family income on food.
Presenting CLAC

12. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanAn example of our work
Within the area of access to new
markets and increased Food
Sovereignty, we have just
launched a Challenge to invite
Producer Organisations to share
their experiences in added value
to their products.
Presenting CLAC

13. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to increase Gender
Equity via:
Implementing our Gender Policy:
CLAC as a Network has recently approved its own
Gender Policy, which is being implemented and
promoted in all its Country Networks, seeking to
increase Gender Balance by working with both men and
women around this topic.
Presenting CLAC

14. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
An example of our work in Gender:
CLAC has developed a
Leadership School for Women
with partners in El Salvador to
increase womens voice and
participation.
This experience has been very
successful and systematized in
order to allow for replication in
other countries.
Presenting CLAC

15. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to reduce inequalities via:
Involving and favoring minority groups:
Minority Products and Regions within CLAC have equal
participation. Also we are in the process to work together
with our youth representatives on a Youth Inclusion
Policy, as this is a mayor objective in particular in Family
Agriculture. Indigenous people and producer
organisations are visualized via CLAC´s Advocacy work.
Presenting CLAC

16. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
An example in Youth Inclusion:
Presenting CLAC
CLAC invited youth from all our 24
countries to come together to
provide inputs into our Youth
Inclusion Policy which will be
developed this year. The voice
from youth will be crucial for this
Policy.

17. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the CaribbeanCLAC seeks to increase Climate
Change Resilience via:
Our Climate Change Programme:
Climate Change is a devastating reality for all our
farmers and therefore high emphasis is given to Climate
Change Resilience activities. We have developed a
detailed Climate Change Programme, which can be
applied to all countries and all products and are
currently looking for partners and funding opportunities
to scale up its implementation.
Presenting CLAC

18. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
An example of our work in Climate
Change Resilience:
A small scale but highly
successful and intensive
Productivity Program in
bananas has the aim to ensure
increased soil fertility and
decrease production costs by
using natural resources to
increase productivity.
Presenting CLAC

19. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
Some of our current partners:
Presenting CLAC

20. CLAC – The Fairtrade Producer Network of Latin
America and the Caribbean
Challenges to be addressed together
with Partners:
• Increased market sales under Fairtrade Conditions
• Increased long term investments in Climate Change
Resilience for Family Agriculture
• Increased investments and collaboration in Human
Rights Assurance and reduced inequalities
• Increased collaboration to work towards living income
and living wage levels
• Increased partnerships to work together on the
accomplishment of all these goals
Presenting CLAC

21. Thank you !