Sony Venord
Meet Sony Venord. Residing in the largest city of the Dominican northwest, this ambitious 33-year-old is working at the Momibanano project located in the Mao province of the Dominican Republic. Although Sony is currently a supervisor at this Fairtrade banana plantation, he started out at the company as a recent high school graduate, hoping to advance his leadership capabilities by attending a university. His dream: to become an agronomic engineer.
Unfortunately, Sony couldn’t afford further education, as the cost of obtaining a degree was too high. Looking for other options to finance his goal, the young plantation worker applied for a scholarship with his Fairtrade certified company.
After reviewing Sony’s application and noting his hard work at the Momibanano project, the Fairtrade Premium committee provided him the financial scholarship to attend a university. Now, thanks to the Premium, Sony will achieve his goal of becoming an agronomic engineer.
What is the Fairtrade Premium?
The Fairtrade Premium is a way of making sure that supply chains are helping—not harming—farmers by putting more money directly into their hands. This set amount of income is designated for producer organizations to invest in their communities according to the priorities of their members.
“My life has changed a great deal because now I’m not just a worker. I’m a supervisor at the company. This means that I’m passing on here at the company what I’ve learned at the university. I’m an offspring of the company, and through Fairtrade, my university education has been paid, and I’m that person I wanted to be!”
$208M+ in Fairtrade Premium was paid to Fairtrade farmers and workers in 2019, and continues to empower people like Sony who have big dreams they are motivated to fulfill. Whether the Premium is used to build new schools, new homes, or provide an education, Fairtrade strives to help communities thrive.
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