Introduction
Background
Apricots are grown at between 4,500 and 9,500 feet on the Karakoram Mountains which merge with the Himalayas and border both India and China. In this pure highland environment, the apricots grow during long summer days on soil fed by glacial melt water, creating beautifully flavoured fruit. The farming communities in the area are extremely poor, living in harsh environmental conditions where summertemperatures can soar to 47°C and winter temperatures plunge to minus 12°C. Farming in these extremely arid conditions is made possible only with irrigation that required digging 190k of water channels through mountain rock.
Farmers here produce a variety of fruit including apricots, apples, cherries, mulberries and peaches. They also grow nuts including almonds, walnuts and pine nuts. But lack of infrastructure means the farmers cannot take full advantage of this abundance. The Karakoram Highway links northern mountain towns such as Gilgit with the main domestic market 600k away in Pakistan and also with China. But the unreliable condition of the road and the highly perishable nature of the fruit combined with the lack of cold storage and processing facilities mean that most of the fruit is either left to rot at the farm before it can be consumed or dried as a low quality fruit for sale at poor local markets.
Development of Mountain Fruits Ltd
In 1997, UK based Tropical Wholefoods began working with Sher on the Dry Fruit Project for which he had secured AKRSP funding, providing invaluable technical assistance and support.
In March 2000, a training project was initiated by the AKRSP in order to replace the traditional but unhygienic method of sun-drying the fruit to an internationally accepted standard. In 2004 the AKRSP Dry Fruit Project was registered as a dried fruit export business and changed its name to Mountain Fruits (pvt) Ltd. The company now trains farmers in the processing of fresh fruit into value-added dried commodities that are bought and marketed by Tropical Wholefoods and other importers. The modern processing methods create a product of international marketable standard, with greatly improved stability and food-safety compared with traditional drying techniques.
Mountain Fruits now works with over 2,000 families producing a variety of dried fruits and nuts. Over 100 female workers are employed in the factory – this is the only place in the northern area where women can work, due to cultural barriers. They are engaged in fruit processing and packing and they receive the national minimum wage, which is a rarity for women workers in this part of the country. Mountain Fruits also train farmers in improved agricultural techniques such as organic farming and the use of appropriate technology for cracking the nuts. Along with the installation of a solar drying system, these developments enable growers to increase production on the scarce land resources available to them. Because the farmers grow dozens of fruit varieties of varying quality, the company has developed a system of training village representatives as Master Trainers to promote the grafting of improved fruit tree varieties. Around 100 women have now been trained as Master Trainers. The project aims to expand into finding markets for other agricultural products that the farmers grow such as honey, morel mushroom and buck wheat flour and thereby increase the income of the poor communities from the sales of their higher quality products.
Fairtrade Premium Use
From the very beginning, Sher knew that adding value to the product was essential to increasing both income and market share and the policy of the company has always been to enter Fairtrade and organic markets. Selling Fairtrade apricots to the UK market means the farmers receive a guaranteed fair and stable price and an additional premium to invest in projects that benefit the farmers, their families and their communities.
The company has set up the Mountain Areas Fruit Farmers Association. Its elected village representatives come together to discuss and decide how to use the Fairtrade Premium. In 2005, the Association received its first small premiums and, in consultation with Mountain Fruits management, selected a number of small projects in different communities:
- Contributing to the construction costs of a joint-funded community school project
- Paying for the transport of sand and stones for two community school construction projects
- Paying the school fees of some of the poorest children
- Construction of a playground for schoolchildren
- Construction of a community hall
- Construction of a washroom for a community hall
- Purchase of a carpet for a community hall
- Purchase of sewing machines and cloth for two women's vocational centres
- Purchase of more than 300 apricot plants for distribution among farmers
- Roofing an exposed water tank
- Plans for 2006 include the purchase of an electricity generator for one village and the purchase of fruit trays and fruit drying inputs to distribute among farmers.
Where can I buy Mountain Fruits Dried Apricots?
Mountain Fruits dried apricot products are available from Tropical Wholefoods, health food shops, Oxfam shops, Traidcraft and Tesco.
Tropical Wholefoods Sun-Dried Apricots, 200g pack
Tropical Wholefoods Organic Apricot & Kernel, 40g snack bar
Traidcraft Dried Apricots, 125g pack
Traidcraft Apricot & Raisin Geobar, 35g snack bar
Tesco Fair Trade Brazil Nuts & Dried Apricots, 175g pack
Fairtrade Foundation April 2007
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