At TransFair USA, we’re extremely grateful to have so many friends, family, and supporters who are committed to making the world a better place. We’ve all been searching for ways to help with Tuesday’s catastrophic earthquake near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While the full extent of the damage is still being assessed by NGOs and news agencies around the world, we wanted to take a moment to let our Haitian Fair Trade Certified producers know that they are in our thoughts, and to share with you a little more about Fair Trade in Haiti and how you can help at this time of crisis.

Our global partner Fair Trade Labelling Organizations (FLO) works with nine producer organizations in Haiti, including FENAPCOM that supplies Fair Trade Certified mangos to us in the United States. FENAPCOM growers are located all over the country, including in the south near Port-au-Prince. Both FLO and TransFair USA have reached out the cooperative, but as phones are down, we’ve yet to hear about how they’ve been affected. While we wait, we’d love to share with you the history of Fair Trade in Haiti, to understand more about the people and the community.

Fair Trade Certified francique mangoes from Haiti are not only one of the best tasting mangoes available, but they also represent a rare opportunity to address the root of two interconnected and devastating problems in Haiti—poverty and deforestation.

The goal of the Fair Trade Certified mango program in Haiti is to put economic value on the mango trees so their roots will stay in the ground instead of being cut down for charcoal. Most mango growers in Haiti only own a few trees. On their own, they had little ability to negotiate prices and no access to international markets. But by banding together and participating in Fair Trade, growers now have access to international markets, better farm gate prices to the individual growers and higher prices to the grower group upon delivery to the exporter, and the end of year Fair Trade Premium—all of which translate into higher standards of living for impoverished growers and their families.

Since 2004, Fair Trade Certified mangoes have provided an essential source of income for Haiti’s poor family farmers—more than tripling their income from mango sales. In 2008, Whole Foods Market stepped forward as the first significant buyer of Fair Trade Certified mangoes, and brought the Whole Planet Foundation micro-lending programs to mango growing communities in Haiti. In just two years, Whole Foods Market has delivered over $33,000 in premiums and above market returns to farmers in the Western hemisphere’s neediest country.

It’s been reported that this is the worst earthquake to hit the area in more than 200 years. Entire communities have been ripped apart and as many as three million people have been directly affected. So in addition to continuing your conscious efforts to purchase Fair Trade Certified products to support Haitian mango farmers, we urge you to support the relief efforts now. We’ve compiled a number of ways for you to help by learning more or donating online to support relief efforts:

Save the Children
Partners In Health
President Obama’s Website
The United Nations World Food Program
UNICEF

One of the simplest ways to take action is through your mobile phone. Donate $10 to the American Red Cross–charged to your cell phone bill–by texting HAITI to 90999, or $5 to Yéle Haiti by texting YELE to 501501.

This is just a sampling of the opportunities available, so please comment to add opportunities to this list.