Fairtrade premium in action in Kenya

The Murang'a South Growers Group is one of two grower groups within Mavuno. Within this group, different villages work together in a joint cooperative in which decisions are taken collectively.

The Fairtrade premium — a fixed surcharge on top of the product price that is earmarked for joint investments — has been paid to this cooperative. The affiliated villages then decide together how this premium will be used. With multiple communities and shared responsibility, this requires careful coordination. Every expenditure must be widely supported.

A conscious choice: goats

The members decided to invest the premium in the purchase of goats. Each community receives one goat. Ownership remains with the cooperative, while the villagers are allowed to use the goats' produce, such as milk.

The choice is practical and locally relevant. Goats provide direct nutritional value, create additional income opportunities and increase the resilience of households, while collective ownership strengthens cohesion within the cooperative.

The power of local decision-making

From a Western perspective, this use of funds might not have been the first idea that came to mind. That is precisely why this example underlines the core principle of Fairtrade: the community itself determines what is valuable in its own context.

The premium is thus not an externally imposed project, but an instrument for self-development and strengthening the local structure. This is how the Fairtrade premium takes concrete shape within Mavuno's avocado chain.