Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil.

But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.

Nowhere is this paradox more evident than in Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. Tadesse Meskela is one man on a mission to save his 74,000 struggling coffee farmers from bankruptcy. As his farmers strive to harvest some of the highest quality coffee beans on the international market, Tadesse travels the world in an attempt to find buyers willing to pay a fair price.

As part of our outreach programs Koperattiva Kummerċ Ġust organizes various educational activities on North-South development, Fair Trade and ethical consumption.

Throughout the years we have embarked on several educational projects using different styles and methods to raise awareness about the North-South divide and ancillary global issues.

As a result of these projects we have been able to create various pedagogical materials in the form of educational guides, games and power-point presentations as well as carry out research, organize initiatives and events in schools, community groups and in the public.

Our organization has been financially supported by the European Commission - EuropeAid, the Ministry of Education (Youth Support Initiatives) and Youth in Action Projects to achieve these activities and educational material.

There are two leading organizations in the Fair Trade movement, being the Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) and the World Fair Trade Organization (WTFO)

Both FLO and the WFTO acknowledge different types of disadvantaged producers. The World Fair Trade Organization sets standards to smallholders that are working together in co-operatives or other organizations within a democratic structure. FLO applies standards to workers, whose employers pay decent wages, guarantee the right to join trade unions, ensure health and safety standards and provide adequate housing where relevant.