UK: New fair trade foundation launched

Shared Interest, the world?s leading fair trade finance co-operative, has launched a sister charity to complement its work. The mission of the new Shared Interest Foundation is to support disadvantaged producers in using fair trade as a sustainable solution to poverty. The foundation will provide education and training in financial management and will help producer organisations to develop capacity and improve business performance. The Foundation ran its first five-day business skills training course in Kenya in May for workers in a fair trade handicraft producers organisation. Those workers are now passing the skills learned on to some 800 craft workers. Shared Interest aims to develop a presence in each region of the developing world and had recently opened offices in Kenya and Costa Rica. www.shared-interest.com/foundation.htm