Walmart Foundation awards $1.4M grant to Fair Trade USA

Fair Trade USA has received a 30-month grant of $1.4 million from the Walmart Foundation.

“This grant will help Fair Trade USA provide greater value to producers around the world through more efficient disbursement and investment of Community Development Funds,” Gavin Bailey, program officer for the Walmart Foundation, said in a news release. “Through its role in global supply chains, Fair Trade USA can provide increased value for farmers and workers as well as actionable data and insights around community outcomes for a diverse group of industry and nonprofit stakeholders.”

Last year, about $60 million from Community Development Funds, financed by the premiums on Fair Trade USA products, went to various projects chosen by grower communities, from building health clinics to providing families with small, low-interest business loans, per the release.

Over the period of the grant, Fair Trade USA plans to develop and distribute a new process for assessing community needs and a toolkit for producers. These programs will be piloted in Mexico and Colombia. The work will also include the creation of an online hub that provides supply chain information and shares with the public how fair trade makes a difference.

“Through the development and evaluation of the new tools outlined in the grant, our team will be better equipped to help producer communities meet basic needs,” Fair Trade USA founder and CEO Paul Rice said in the release. “Community development funds are becoming even more critical as a result of the pandemic to fund products like access to clean water, education, health care and low-interest loans. We’re proud as a grantee of the Walmart Foundation to drive meaningful impact in producers’ lives and increase the value we deliver to stakeholders and consumers seeking increased transparency.”