Recently, the Fair Trade group at the school have sold rice in an effort to support the education of children in Malawi. The Oystercatcher can exclusively reveal we have sold 90 Kilos!
There are issues though. Priced at £3 per kilo it is not cheap. Tesco’s cheapest rice is 45 pence per kilo. How can this be? Rice to support Malawi is almost 700% more expensive!
Cheap, own brand rice, has to be transported from the country of origin. Packaging and distribution must then be added to the cost of putting that rice on the shelf. The cost of staff to put that rice on the shelf and the cost of employing someone on the checkout to authorise buying that rice has to be included.
Why is rice so cheap? Or expensive?
It will cost the price of 90 Kg of rice at £3 per Kilo to send a child in Malawi to school. We are constantly asked to help poor people yet no-one ever asks why they are so poor. Tesco 45 pence, Malawi £3?
According to the World Bank around one third of Malawi people live in poverty. Nearly 85% of people live from the land. In order to cultivate their land they need to buy seeds and, ideally, fertilisers, to make sure that they get a good harvest. If they do not grow enough to feed their family then they don’t have any produce left to sell to get cash. Without cash they cannot buy seed and fertiliser. Even if they do sell some of their crops, they may not get a fair price. There are many traders who buy from small holder farmers using scales which give false readings.
How can Tesco, and every other supermarket, sell rice so cheaply, while a few Kilos of rice can change the life of a child?
