People Tree Foundation

Tasks Ahead

Fair Trade Debate

Capacity Building

Mission

The aims of the Foundation are:

To alleviate poverty and create decent livelihoods in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America through the promotion of Fair Trade.
To protect the environment through the promotion of environmental projects related to the communities People Tree works in and the garment trade in general.
To promote community development by supporting community projects where People Tree works (including the establishments and running of schools).
To promote and develop awareness of Fair Trade and environmental issues in Britain and the developed world.

The tasks ahead for the People Tree Foundation are huge

Fashion has a dirty side, yet many low-price, fast fashion brands are seeing sales growth in the face of economic downturn.

Despite media exposés in the last two years on labour abuses in garment factories and child labour in the developing world, customers are too slow to take responsibility for their part in it and to hold companies accountable.

The Fair Trade Debate:

There is widespread public support for Fair Trade, but so far most of the educational, general awareness building and campaigning work has been done in the area of trade and food commodities, not manufactured products like fashion.

We aim to create powerful visual tools that make clear the need for higher minimum ethical and environmental practice in the conventional fashion industry - at the same time as showcasing best practice in Fair Trade and sustainability.

We hope to document 'How To' Fair Trade Fashion, so that one day, high street brands can partner with a weaving project and deliver the same benefits.

Capacity building

People Tree has built a reputation as a major force in capacity support and technical assistance for artisan groups in the developing world, and helps them overcome barriers, so that they can sell their products in quality-conscious markets like Japan
and UK.

People Tree’s producer groups are growing with the business. To do so, they need more sophisticated skills for production management, business planning, personnel management as well as improved technical skills.

With funding from the British Government DFID’s RAGS fund, the Foundation is running several projects in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Experienced People Tree staff are delivering a range of training workshops for key staff in producer groups on topics as diverse as planning critical paths for production, pattern cutting and business planning. The Foundation will also be helping groups to implement grassroots management system developed by the World Fair Trade Organisation - WFTO, “Sustainable Fair Trade Management System”. It will help them be more efficient, deliver products of consistent quality on time and manage their workforce better.

The cotton yarn the Bangladeshi producer groups can buy is of variable quality and price. As part of this project, the Foundation will work with producers to band together to buy a large quatities of cotton in advance. They should get better prices and better quality yarn this way, improving the quality of their products and making them cheaper and therefore more saleable.

The aim is to generate more orders to ensure more people can benefit from Fair Trade employment and also increase the number of days that existing producers work during the year.

For more information please contact us at info@peopletreefoundation.org

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		About Us Mission Fair Trade Voices

Tasks Ahead Fair Trade Debate Capacity Building		Mission The aims of the Foundation are: To alleviate poverty and create decent livelihoods in developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America through the promotion of Fair Trade. To protect the environment through the promotion of environmental projects related to the communities People Tree works in and the garment trade in general. To promote community development by supporting community projects where People Tree works (including the establishments and running of schools). To promote and develop awareness of Fair Trade and environmental issues in Britain and the developed world.
		The tasks ahead for the People Tree Foundation are huge Fashion has a dirty side, yet many low-price, fast fashion brands are seeing sales growth in the face of economic downturn. Despite media exposés in the last two years on labour abuses in garment factories and child labour in the developing world, customers are too slow to take responsibility for their part in it and to hold companies accountable.

		The Fair Trade Debate: There is widespread public support for Fair Trade, but so far most of the educational, general awareness building and campaigning work has been done in the area of trade and food commodities, not manufactured products like fashion. We aim to create powerful visual tools that make clear the need for higher minimum ethical and environmental practice in the conventional fashion industry - at the same time as showcasing best practice in Fair Trade and sustainability. We hope to document 'How To' Fair Trade Fashion, so that one day, high street brands can partner with a weaving project and deliver the same benefits.

		Capacity building People Tree has built a reputation as a major force in capacity support and technical assistance for artisan groups in the developing world, and helps them overcome barriers, so that they can sell their products in quality-conscious markets like Japan and UK. People Tree’s producer groups are growing with the business. To do so, they need more sophisticated skills for production management, business planning, personnel management as well as improved technical skills. With funding from the British Government DFID’s RAGS fund, the Foundation is running several projects in Bangladesh and Nepal. Experienced People Tree staff are delivering a range of training workshops for key staff in producer groups on topics as diverse as planning critical paths for production, pattern cutting and business planning. The Foundation will also be helping groups to implement grassroots management system developed by the World Fair Trade Organisation - WFTO, “Sustainable Fair Trade Management System”. It will help them be more efficient, deliver products of consistent quality on time and manage their workforce better. The cotton yarn the Bangladeshi producer groups can buy is of variable quality and price. As part of this project, the Foundation will work with producers to band together to buy a large quatities of cotton in advance. They should get better prices and better quality yarn this way, improving the quality of their products and making them cheaper and therefore more saleable. The aim is to generate more orders to ensure more people can benefit from Fair Trade employment and also increase the number of days that existing producers work during the year. For more information please contact us at info@peopletreefoundation.org
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