Training is crucial for enhancing skills and knowledge to ensure employees stay current with industry standards. It boosts productivity and efficiency by improving job performance and innovation. Recognizing this, Fairtrade NAPP along with the producer organizations, organized a Standards Training Program to enhance the knowledge and skills of field teams and producers within Small Producer Organizations. This program was developed by producer organizations to ensure field staff and producers have a thorough understanding of relevant standards. This program was attended by 50 leaders from Elite Krishi Seva Sanstha Nagardale and Elite Krishi Seva Sanstha Warnanagar Kolhapur, India.
“I appreciate Fairtrade NAPP and producer organization for conducting program in local language with easy examples. I would like to be part of more upcoming program as they are informative. He appreciated NAPP for taking efforts to come down to remote area for conducting training and meeting producers.” – Sudharkar Nikam, Elite Krushi Seva Sanstha Warananagar Kodoli.
The program included several key sessions. Gender sensitization was a major focus as it emphasized on the importance of involving women in various Fairtrade NAPP programs and recognizing their contributions. Increasing women’s participation can lead to more concrete programs and greater sustainability for initiatives. In addition, the program facilitated discussions on various issues, particularly, concerning updates to HREDD standards and their relevance to audits and documentation. Pre-audit support training was another crucial component of the training program. These sessions involved discussions, interactions sessions, and feedback for performance assessment. These activities supported the producer organizations through comprehensive standards training programs.
“Being certification officer, it was more informative and helpful for standards understanding. Documentation, Women participation and HREDD Training to organized in upcoming quarters.” – Umesh Patil, Elite Krishi VikasSanstha Nagardale
The impact of the training has been significant. Elite Krushi Seva Sanstha with over 700 Fairtrade certified producers, identified a need for standards orientation and pre-audit support to provide more effective services and facilitate the work of field staff. During the training, producers highlighted errors in bookkeeping and documentation relevant to audits. Participants appreciated Fairtrade NAPP’s efforts in keeping them updated about standards and the ecosystem. Producers requested quarterly training sessions for better understanding and knowledge updates. Follow-up actions include quarterly training sessions for producer organizations and field staff. In addition, efforts will be made to increase women’s and youth participation in producer organizations in future. This, as a result, mainstreams them in decision-making and leadership positions through training and workshops.
The long-term impact of the training is substantial. Producer organizations developed trust towards Fairtrade NAPP for knowledge updates. In this way, Fairtrade NAPP is committed to providing these services and expects increased female participation from producer organizations.
