Nyandira, Tanzania
"We're 1650 metres above sea level, and the temperature is now 12 degrees Celcius. On our drive we pass many farmers on their way to the market, carrying heavy loads on their heads. Some of them are barefoot. It's cloudy and misty and cold up here. Yeah, it's like Croagh Patrick - the same, only very very different!!.
I knew a little about fair trade before I came to Africa, and was aware of farmers not getting a fair price for their produce in most of the third world. This is where the deals were going down. This place has a sinister feel about it. We could see buyers negotiating their price, and sellers obviously not happy with the price they're being offered. But they don't hold the reigns. If they don't sell they .. well they have to sell, most of their produce up here is perishable, so if they don't sell today, then they don't sell at all. This is the way the scales are balanced."
exerpt from Brian's Diary.
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