Partners

About this organisation

JTS is a not for profit, fair trade organisation set up to facilitate the import and distribution of fairly traded products to the UK.

We empower and educate producers and consumers, through the fair purchasing and sale of delicious food products from the developing world.

We seek to provide sustainable incomes and wellbeing for small holder farmers, producers and their families.

Offers

90KG RICE CHALLENGE

An educational tool to teach pupils about Fairtrade, Sustainability, Social Enterprise and Global Citizenship and it runs throughout the whole year. Three reasons why every school should take on the Challenge:

• Pre-Planned lessons in line with the Curriculum for Excellence
• Teaching Resources provided
• Quick and easy to take part

The 90kg Rice Challenge is becoming more and more popular due to its ease to take part in, its clear message, and its worthwhile outcome. The simple concept is that a rice farmer in Malawi has to sell 90kg of rice to give him enough of a sustainable income to run his farm, feed and clothe his family and enable him to provide education for his children.

The 90kg Rice Challenge is a teaching tool to demonstrate:

• the benefits of buying fair trade products here and how it positively impacts the lives of the producers in the developing world,
• how pupils can be global citizens by helping those in some of the poorest communities in the world gain an education and therefore provide a brighter future for their peers in Malawi,
• sustainability by providing a consistent market in the UK and thereby helping the rice farmers to work their way out of poverty with dignity and creating food security,
• social enterprise by allowing the pupils to run a business and come up with innovative and creative ways to sell the 90 x 1kg bags of Kilombero rice from Malawi.

The Challenge costs £288 (£3.20 per 1kg bag of rice) and the idea is that having completed the lessons, the pupils will sell the rice on to family members or in the community in order to cover the costs, but some schools prefer to cook with it, host curry nights, bake offs, or do a Dragon's Den scenario etc. The school has 30 days to pay the invoice in the hope that they will have sold the rice in that time and therefore have no upfront costs.

Case Studies

HILLHEAD PRIMARY SCHOOL

Across 2017 Hillhead Primary School managed to sell an incredible ton of Kilombero Rice. They managed to do this by selling the rice at stalls at their Christmas fayre, at events in their local community and throughout the school year.

Their amazing feat led to them getting visits from local press as well as a special visit from two of our farmers in Malawi!

BISHOPBRIGGS ACADEMY

Bishopbriggs Academy's approach to the rice challenge focused heavily on fulfilling the social enterprise criteria of the curriculum for excellence. Children from an s2 class where formed into teams of eight and then within the team individual roles ranging from Managing director to sales executive to marketing director where delegated depending on the pupil's preferences. From here the pupils were then challenged to come up with a unique selling point for their rice and produce advertising materials consisting of 3 leaflets and 3 flyers. The pupils then delivered a presentation to a Teacher outlining why they should be given the money necessary to buy the 90kg of rice.

After this was successfully completed the kids where then able to market and sell the rice. The school enjoyed great engagement from the community with business leaders offering to come in and speak to the kids about how to increase their sales acumen. In this context, the 90kg challenge was a valuable teaching tool for how businesses are able to make a positive impact on solving global problems.

EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE NURSERIES

Fourteen nurseries in East Dunbartonshire teamed up to undertake the Fair Trade Tonne challenge for Fairtrade Fortnight, buying over a tonne of rice to sell. In order to complete this challenge individual nurseries set up market stalls operated by the kids where parents would be able to visit at the end of the day. Additionally, they also ran special events and open days to promote sales of the rice.

GOUROCK PRIMARY SCHOOL

Have completed four rice challenges in the last few years, they have been able to do this by creating recipe cards which have been sold alongside bags of rice as well as creating promotional materials such as posters and leaflets which have been used to advertise the selling of the rice at school fete's and parents evenings. One of the keys to Gourock primary school's great success over the years has been actively engaging the kids with lessons plans which have made them passionate about helping the people of Malawi, these lesson plans are sent out alongside the 90kg challenge pack and include lesson plans with a focus on Global Citizenship.

Testimonials

Links

• 90kg Rice Challenge
• Glasgow City Council Case Study
• Five Lanes Primary School Case Study
• East Dunbartonshire Nurseries Case Study
• Millersneuk Primary School Case Study