Missionary Society of St. Columban

Mangoes are a true food treasure of the Philippines. This tropical fruit is delicious, juicy and sweet—and an important staple crop for the Filipino people.

But for some farmers, the mango trade had long left a bitter taste.

Columban Father Shay Cullen became aware in the 1980s that small-scale mango farmers near Manila were routinely exploited by a price-fixing cartel of wealthy fruit exporters. These farmers were forced to sell mangoes to the cartel for ridiculously low prices or see their fruit rot on the trees.

The Fair Trade project of Columban Father Shay Cullen (center) helps these workers earn a just wage.

Low wages often meant young people would abandon farming for the bright lights of Manila, getting caught up through economic necessity in the seedier side of city life. Fr. Shay realized that improving their living conditions and earnings was the best way to keep the children of farmers at home and safe.

Years earlier in 1975, Fr. Shay established PREDA Fair Trade so local craftspeople could make wicker furniture and baskets to improve their living conditions and as a way to train jobless young people in a trade. PREDA Fair Trade was then expanded in the 1980s to help the mango farmers.

Fr. Shay’s group entered into a partnership with a struggling family who owned a dried fruit processing plant.

The partnership bought mangoes for a fair price directly from the farmers—sidestepping the cartel—and processed the chemical-free dried fruit for Fair Trade importers and ethical commercial distributors in Europe.

Early success was not easy, but the partnership’s hard work and dedication paid off and demand for Fair Trade dried mangoes grew and markets expanded. After 10 years, PREDA Fair Trade was a trusted brand, and the delicious, preservative-free mangoes were selling quickly.

Soon, PREDA Fair Trade and its partners were buying hundreds of tons of fresh fruit at higher prices than the cartel was willing to pay. This created a fruit shortage for cartel members who had to compete with PREDA Fair Trade. The cartel was broken.

As the program grew, product development has meant that even small or poorer quality mangoes can be used to produce mango purée and juice concentrate. Local farmers are delighted since they were unable to sell these fruits in the past. Increased mango demand has resulted in the planting of thousands of grafted mango trees, which produce fruit typically after five years.

The larger mango groves have helped reduce local greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide that is absorbed by the expanding orchards. Today, thousands of workers are employed in the partnership’s mango processing plant and receive just wages and working condition.

Profits go toward helping the Philippines’ indigenous farmers, a group whose way of life is threatened by our globalized economy.

Fr. Shay’s program demonstrates how Fair Trade ventures can reshape lives. For more than 30 years, PREDA Fair Trade has helped workers, reduced poverty and given these children of God a sense of accomplishment and hope.

Kathryn Boyle is the Columban Society’s mission and social justice education director in Melbourne, Australia.

Emilio’s Recycled Life

Turning drink pouches into fashionable bags gives rise to a cottage industry that lifts Filipinos from poverty.

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The poor man in worn flip-flops and a torn T-shirt struggled up our steep driveway, burdened by the heavy sack slung over his shoulder. I stopped the van and drove him and his load up the hill.

The man was exhausted but happy—not because he got a lift, but because he was selling for top prices his bulging sack of used aluminum-foil juice drink pouches to our PREDA Fair Trade recycling bag project here in Olongapo City.

The pouches are an unsightly environmental hazard in the Philippines, clogging canals and blocking drains, which allows malaria-spreading mosquitoes to proliferate in stagnant water. Emilio is no longer an ever-hungry scrap scavenger pushing a wood cart around Olongapo City to support his family. His three children have stopped begging on the streets and attend a government-run elementary school.

At the PREDA Fair Trade Assistance Center, Emilio’s recycled drink pouches are examined, counted and stored for distribution to our women’s cooperative and family sewing groups. In their homes, group members sew the colorful drink pouches into durable, high-quality, fashionable backpacks, shopping bags, wallets and handbags.

These products are sold worldwide to those who love the unique designs and colors. No two bags are the same, because each is constructed with a unique combination of drink pouches.

One Italian recycling company plans to distribute a set of three large square bags with shoulder straps as household containers for bottles, paper and cans. When full, the bags can disposed of in neighborhood recycling bins. The Fair Trade movement is sweeping the world wherever people of conscience want to buy products that contribute to the well being of our planet.

The Basics Of Fair Trade

Learn more about Fair Trade at these websites:

Fair Trade Federation

The Fair Trade Federation is an association of Fair Trade wholesalers, retailers and producers in the United States. www.fairtradefederation.org

Fair Trade Resource Network

The Fair Trade Resource Network’s goal is to raise consumer awareness about improving people’s lives through Fair Trade alternatives. www.fairtraderesource.org

Catholic Relief Services

Catholic Relief Services is the official international and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community. www.crsfairtrade.org The Missionary Society of St. Columban is not responsible for the content of these websites.

Learn About PREDA

To learn more about PREDA Fair Trade and the other life-saving activities of PREDA (People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance Foundation, Inc.) visit the organization’s websites at www.preda.net and www.preda.org. You can read a biography of Columban Father Shay Cullen on our Biographies & Videos page.