Allan & Caulene Bussard

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Allan & Caulene Bussard All from one phone call.... This morning I received a phone call from the Director of a Slovak Company that imports and distributes macadamia nuts. “Mr Bussard, I know we ordered two containers of macadamia nuts from your fair trade company. But would it be possible to increase the order to 10 containers? “ One of the things I strongly believe is that the best way to help people climb out of poverty is to give them an opportunity. Farmers who grow a crop need access to markets. This is one thing we try to provide. Each container of macadamia nuts holds 15 tons. Ten containers holds 150 tons. That is 150,000 kg. Approximately 81,000,000 separate macadamia nuts. To produce 150,000 kg of macadamia nuts, we need to process 800,000 kg of raw macadamia. One tree produces 50 kg, so this is the production from 16,000 trees. Each farmer in our Fair Trade farmer cooperative keeps about 10 trees, so these nuts will come from 1600 small farms. These farms provide a home for at least 6500 people. The total amount these farmers will be paid is about $600,000. Additionally, their communities will receive a further $54,000 in social premium payments within the Fair Trade system. This money will be used in their communities to pay for children’s education, home improvements, dig wells, buy livestock, plant crops, cover health care costs, etc. The Director who called me is not really aware of any of these impacts. I tried to explain to him once, but his eyes glazed over and he began to look at his watch. But I don’t care…God is using him to lift Kenyan families out of poverty in a way that is sustainable and preserves their dignity. All from one phone call….. One of the things I strongly believe is that the best way to help people climb out of poverty is to give them an opportunity. Our mailing address is: Integra Dobsinského 14 Bratislava 81105 Slovakia