Fairtrade Label South Africa: Consultant - Impact Story Writer

Fairtrade Label South Africa (FLSA) is a nonprofit marketing organisation that works to alleviate rural poverty and to empower small-scale farmers and disadvantaged workers primarily in Africa by creating market opportunities for and increasing sales of Fairtrade labelled products in South Africa.

FLSA seeks the services of a Consultant to write five impact stories narrating the benefits of Fairtrade for farm workers and their families living on Fairtrade certified commercial farms in South Africa and in cooperatives in Africa.

The need

As part of objective 1, we want to communicate to consumers how Fairtrade is benefitting farmers and farm workers, their families and communities.
FLSA annually recruits a consultant to write five stories about the impact of Fairtrade on African farms. The stories should explain how small-scale farmers and farm workers as well as their families benefit from Fairtrade, e.g. in terms of better working conditions, training, empowerment projects, use of the Fairtrade Development Premium. The stories will be used for promotional purposes, such as in promotional materials for campaigns and events, and on the website. Previous stories can be found on the website.

This year we are extending our stories to producers in other African countries: Cameroon, Tanzania/Ethiopia and Ghana.

Methodology

The consultant should follow the methodology given below:

• Together with FLSA contact each of the five Fairtrade certified farms or cooperatives;
• In South Africa: Meet and interview the selected persons;
• In other countries: Gather information by other means;
• Take good quality pictures of each farm worker on the farm (FLSA can provide a standard camera should you not have one) or source pictures from the producers, Fairtrade Liaison Officers or Regional Coordinators (FLSA will provide contacts)
• Fill the information in a format provided by FLSA;
• Analyse the data and write each story. The stories must inform consumers about the impact of Fairtrade. They must be “nice to read” stories and publishable.

Timeline

	AUGUST		SEPTEMBER				OCTOBER
	W4	W5	W1	W2	W3	W4	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5
Introductory meeting between consultant and FLSA	X	X
Identification of 5 producer organisations	X	X
Research - background information on farms		X	X
Research - interviews with farm workers				X	X	X	X	X
Analysis of the data & writing reports							X	X	X	X
Submission of draft stories to FLSA										X
Edit										X	X
Submission of final stories ready to use										X	X

Expected outcomes

The consultant will deliver five stories on the benefits and impact of Fairtrade for producers and their communities. Each story will follow the format provided by FLSA and will include pictures. The expected length for each story is 1000 words, namely two word pages.

For examples of 2011’s stories, click here.

Requirements

• Excellent writing skills in English;
• Excellent knowledge of Afrikaans;
• Ability to communicate across cultural borders;
• Experience in writing stories or articles;
• Understanding of NGO environment in general and Fairtrade in particular Photography skills.

Budget

The budget for this work is ZAR 9 000 (Including VAT). This does not include transportation costs, which will be refunded upon submission of an invoice. A maximum of ZAR 1 500 can be paid in advance to cover transportation and accommodation costs. The remaining 50% will be paid upon submission of the final stories.

The consultant will be recruited and paid by FLSA. The consultant will report to the Communication and Office Coordinator.

Application  
                               
To apply, submit a CV with a short motivation letter and an extract of an article/story you have written to Klarissa Joemath, Communication and Office Coordinator at klarissa@fairtradesa.org.za. Enquiries: Tel: 021 448 8911.

Please quote the source of this advertisement in your application - NGO Pulse Portal.

For more about FLSA, refer to www.FairtradeSA.org.za.

For other vacancies in the NGO sector, refer to www.ngopulse.org/vacancies.

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