Fairtrade announces the first shipment of African Fairtrade gold from Uganda

Fairtrade certified gold from Uganda has been traded for the first time on 21 September. The announcement was made at a Fairtrade Foundation conference Fairtrade Gold: Future Innovations at the Goldsmiths Centre in London.

Speaking at the event, Michael Gidney, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, explained how the Fairtrade was supporting small scale mine sites in East Africa to access international markets on improved terms of trade.

The gold is traded to CRED Jewellers, supported by Greg Valerio and EWAD. Fairtrade aims to reach other mine sites from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya and to grow the volume of Fairtrade gold available to be exported on Fairtrade terms.

In addition, Fairtrade is launching a new partnership with technology firms Fairphone and Phillips, in collaboration with Solidaridad, HIVOS and UNICEF. The scheme will support artisanal small-scale gold mines in Busia, Uganda, to responsibly mine gold and sell it into the supply chains of these technology businesses.

Fairtrade’s target is to generate USD $50,000 worth of impact for miners via the Fairtrade Premium by 2020.

“These first pioneering grains of gold I am showing you today symbolise so much. They represent safer working conditions, hope, and better lives for miners who struggle to put food on their table each day.

“We use gold for so much, from mobile phones, medical devices, and computers to medals and luxury jewellery. Gold not only symbolises prosperity and luxury but also has the potential to create economic security in all the lives it touches,” said Mr Gidney.

According to Fairtrade 16 million small-scale miners work in dangerous conditions around the world to provide gold for high street retailers. In Uganda alone 130,000 people are employed through artisanal small-scale gold mining, and a further 800,000 benefit indirectly. Unlicensed artisan gold miners produce around 2.8 metric tons of gold per year, most of which is exported illegally.

“This is all about the people of the land benefiting from their resources that are in that land. It is economic, social and environmental justice for the poor.

“Through our work with African mine sites, Fairtrade directly addresses the endemic social and environmental challenges present in artisanal mining, to bring about direct benefits for artisanal small scale mining communities in a way that no other system has done,” concluded Mr Gidney.